OSHA cites Long Island Nassau Coliseum for 16 safety violations

The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Nassau County, has been cited for 16 serious OSHA violations. (Via nassaucoliseum.com) 

Oct. 12, 2012 – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, home of the NHL’s New York Islanders, is not having a good year. Although the team has some ardent fans, Islanders games nonetheless have one of the worst attendance records in the NHL, and last August, Nassau County voters defeated a referendum for a new stadium to be erected using public funds. Not to mention, the NHL is currently facing a lockout, delaying the start of a season scheduled to begin last week.

The press release from OSHA’s Long Island office is a laundry list of health and safety mismanagement, and the most alarming infractions have to do with the presence of asbestos in non-public portions of the arena, including the coliseum’s ice plant, catwalks, and a loading dock. The stadium, built in 1972 and home to the Islanders franchise ever since then, should have been maintained and serviced in compliance with OSHA’s asbestos standards (and the agency makes it easy for employers by publishing the Self-Inspection Checklist) but in their citations, OSHA called SMG out specifically on their failure to identify the presence, location and quantity of asbestos-containing materials, as well as their failure to ensure proper respirator use and post appropriate warning signs.

OSHA regulations require that employees be given protective clothing and equipment as necessary, including respirators. Warning signs are an important reminder to employees that the area is not safe for breathing without respirators. (Via MySafetySign.com)

According to OSHA’s press release, the inspection also found “improperly lighted exit routes” and “inoperable emergency lighting”. Most likely, the specific citations were defined by OSHA Section 1910.37(b), which lays out requirements for appropriate lighting and marking of exit routes, and states that exit routes be “adequately lighted” and well-marked.

Section 1910.37(b)(6) states that exit signs themselves must be “illuminated to a surface value of at least five foot-candles (54 lux) by a reliable light source and be distinctive in color.” (Via SimplyExitSigns.com)

Another health and safety danger cited by OSHA was a failure to create and implement lockout/tagout protocols, sometimes known as LOTO. Lockout and tagout protocols are critical to ensuring safety during machine service and repair, and OSHA’s inspectors have cited the company for having electrical circuits not locked out during the inspection.

Lockout/tagout issues have been a real sticking point for OSHA, which counts violations to lockout/tagout requirements (Section 1910.147) in the top ten most cited standards. Recently, the agency cited a Wisconsin manufacturer $70,000 in proposed fines for failing to safeguard workers during maintenance to 7,000 horsepower shredder. In the case of the Nassau Coliseum, management may be failing to provide employees with the proper equipment, like well-marked lockout stations so that energy sources can be locked and inoperable during maintenance, or durable and visible lockout tags, which allow workers to clearly indicate that the device is under maintenance and may not be operated while the tag is in place. The agency even produces a Fact Sheet to help managers and employers quickly assess where they might be falling short of the standards.

Safety lockout tags can be used in conjunction with lockout procedures, but they are also critical in situations where machines are not capable of being locked out. Tags can reference disciplinary action, to remind workers that there are consequences for non-compliance. (Via MyLockoutTags.com)

Lockout stations are a good investment for employers looking to streamline and standardize their lockout protocols, because the stations include both the locks and Do Not Operate tags. (Via LockoutTags.com)

OSHA inspectors have also cited SMG for failing to develop energy control procedures; the agency requires that companies implement lockout/tagout procedures and train employees on the importance of following protocol for machine service and repair. Employers have to develop and document, as well as enforce, their lockout/tagout procedures. This means providing training for workers and incoming employees, doing periodic inspections of the documentation and the hardware being used by employees, as well as spot checks to make sure the tools are being used properly. Companies can and should create disciplinary consequences to make sure workers “buy in” to the importance of the protocols.

SMG’s failures all count as serious violations, where “physical harm or death could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known”. Although the Coliseum has a poor attendance record for the Islanders’ games, and recent disputes with the county over funding a new stadium and with the owner of the team over potentially moving the franchise, there’s no excuse for the type of health and safety neglect that leads to serious violations from OSHA – no matter how badly the Islanders are doing these days.

– K. Cavouras