The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $112,000 in fines against Home Depot at the Palisades Center in West Nyack.
“These fines stem from the West Nyack”™s Home Depot”™s failure to correct specific hazards, as well as allowing other hazards to occur repeatedly,” said Diana Cortez, OHSA”™s area director in Tarrytown.
OSHA cited the store in September 2008 for failing to provide suitable emergency drenching facilities for employees who might be splashed with hazardous chemicals and for not providing required information and training to employees whose duties involve potential exposure to methylene chloride, a solvent commonly found in paint strippers.
The case was settled in February 2009 with Home Depot expected to submit proof of abatement to OSHA. It failed to respond to numerous requests, setting off a follow-up inspection. Subsequently, OSHA discovered the hazardous conditions were not corrected. The uncorrected conditions prompted OSHA to issue two notices of failure to abate, carrying $82,500 in fines. Another $25,00 fine was added for a similar hazard in the garden department”™s pool supply area and a $4,500 fine for failing to store hazardous chemicals properly. ?Home Depot has 15 business days to comply, meet with OSHA or contest the citations. Calls to the store were referred to the company”™s headquarters. Jennifer King, spokeswoman for Home Depot in its Atlanta headquarters, said, “If any individual store is ”˜called out,”™ our field safety team will follow up directly with the store. Obviously, we have a vested interest in protecting our associates and to be sure their working conditions are at or above standards.”
Home Depot, a publicly traded company, has more than 1,900 retail stores in the United States.
