Saturday, July 17, 2004

DuPont: Hiding Worker Injury

DuPont just can't seem to catch a break these days. Last week the Environmental Protection Agency accuses the company of failing for two decades to report possible health and environmental problems linked to a key ingredient used in making Teflon. Now OSHA is citing the chemical company for not reporting a workplace injury, a practice that DuPont has been cited for before:
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration said Monday that it cited DuPont de Nemours & Company Inc. for failing to report an on-site injury at its Niagara Falls plant last November.

OSHA said a worker at the plant received medical treatment and missed one month of work after inhaling chlorine gas.

Though the agency did not levy a fine against the company, DuPont contested the violation, OSHA said.

The penalty comes after a National Labor Relations Board ruled against the company for refusing to provide its workers' union with information about where hazardous chemicals had been spilled or contaminated an area. DuPont allegedly stopped union health inspectors from examining the plant in 2002.