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PACE International Union • 3340 Perimeter Hill Drive • Nashville, TN 37211 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jim Briggs, PACE International Representative: 716-998-7556 Shawn Gilchrist, PACE Special Projects: 615-831-6723 DuPont Niagara Falls plant cited with OSHA violation PACE Intl. Union Expresses Ongoing Concern about Worker Safety July 12, 2004—Niagara Falls, NY The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) cited the E.I. DuPont de Nemours Co., Inc. (NYSE: DD) for failing to record an on-site injury of an employee at its Niagara Falls facility. The effected employee suffered work-related injuries last November after inhaling chlorine gas. The employee needed immediate medical treatment and missed a month on the job. The company was cited for its failure to list the event on its federal OSHA 300 record-keeping log. The penalty comes on the heels of a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling against the company for refusing to provide the local union with information regarding the location of hazardous chemicals that had caused spills, accidents, air emissions and ground and surface water discharges. DuPont also refused to allow health and safety inspectors of the plant employees’ union—the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) International Union—to enter the plant in 2002. DuPont has contested the violation, even though no fines were levied against the company. “It is clear that DuPont management in Niagara Falls has little regard for the health and safety of its employees,” said PACE Region One Representative Jim Briggs. “Right now, workers are suffering through extensive forced overtime shifts. They should focus on making the plant safe instead of trying to hide injuries to pad its own safety record.” DuPont earns over $100 million a year from DuPont STOP, a safety program that it markets to other manufacturers as a method for minimizing employee injuries. DuPont STOP is used in Niagara Falls. “If the situation in Niagara Falls is any indication of a DuPont safety program, all workers using this system should be concerned,” said Region One Director and Vice President Gary Cook. “Perhaps it is time for the company to re-examine its OSHA logs to make sure it is treating its workers’ health with the proper respect.” Actually, this is not the first time that DuPont has been cited by OSHA for violating record-keeping standards. In 1997 and 1998, DuPont failed to record 117 occupational injury and illness cases and recorded other cases incorrectly at its Seaford, Delaware plant. At the time, DuPont faced a $70,000 fine and agreed to conduct a corporate-wide review of its injury and illness records for five years. Former Seaford plant manager, C. Bland Dickey, is currently in the same role at another PACE-represented facility in Edge Moor, Delaware. Headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., PACE International Union represents over 275,000 workers in the chemical, paper, oil, energy and industrial sectors. It is the fourth largest industrial union in the U.S. www.paceunion.org ### |
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For more information please e-mail Gary Guralny & Shawn Gilchrist |