OSHA Proposes $3.5M in Fines for Emergency Cleanup Violations
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed more than $3.5 million in combined fines against three companies for alleged safety failures during post-emergency cleanup following a Dec. 27, 2025 sulfuric acid spill at BWC Terminals LLC’s industrial facility in Channelview, Texas, which caused multiple employee injuries.
- One Way Environmental Services LLC, a subcontractor hired to provide cleanup laborers, was cited for 18 willful egregious and five serious violations after investigators found workers were sent to clean up the spill without adequate training, respirator fit tests or safety measures, with proposed penalties of $3,045,452.
- Coastal Environmental Solutions Inc., which BWC had contracted to handle the hazardous waste cleanup and which hired One Way as its subcontractor, was cited for two willful and five serious violations, including lacking a training program, a safety and health program, an emergency response plan and proper respirator protocols, with proposed penalties of $392,501.
- BWC itself was cited with six serious violations for exposing workers to chemical burns and failing to provide hazmat training and proper respirator use, with proposed penalties of $82,750. All three companies have 15 days to comply, request an informal conference, or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Court: OSHA Cannot Require Employers to Record Workplace Mental Illnesses
- A unanimous three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cannot require employers to document employees’ work-related mental health conditions, vacating a citation and $700 penalty issued against Exxon Mobil for failing to disclose that an employee reported developing PTSD after a fire at a Texas technical facility.
- The court held that the federal statute’s recordkeeping requirement — covering workplace deaths, injuries, and illnesses — applies exclusively to physical conditions, reasoning that when the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted in 1970, “illness” was understood as a bodily condition rather than a psychological one.
- Citing a 2024 Supreme Court decision limiting judicial deference to federal agencies, the panel said it would independently evaluate OSHA’s interpretation of its own authority rather than defer to the agency’s expertise, ultimately finding OSHA’s steps in this case exceeded the powers Congress delegated to it.
- The case stemmed from a 2022 union complaint alleging Exxon Mobil failed to document mental health issues affecting a worker who twice accompanied firefighters into a burning building to help close valves.
Firm Owner Faced Felony Drug Arrests While OSHA Investigated Worker Death
- The owner of a company whose employee was killed during an antenna replacement project in December 2025 had been arrested multiple times on felony drug charges in North Carolina, one arrest taking place two days before the fatal accident.
- A 44-year-old tower technician died in December 2025 when a gin pole failed while a crew lowered an abandoned antenna from a 347-foot tower in Atlantic City, New Jersey. OSHA’s citations against Carlton Structural Services Corp described a chain of failures including an unsupported gin pole, damaged rigging slings used despite required daily inspections, inadequate employee training on hazard recognition, and a severely rusted fixed ladder with missing rungs that should have been taken out of service.
- OSHA issued five serious citations against the firm on June 2 totaling $24,116 in penalties — about 71% below the roughly $82,750 maximum possible for five serious violations, reflecting standard size, history, and good-faith reduction factors.
- Company owner Todd Allen Carlton was arrested four times on felony drug charges between April 2025 and May 2026 and was ultimately sentenced on June 8 to eight to 19 months in custody after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
- North Carolina records show Carlton Structural Services was administratively dissolved on Sept. 26, 2025 for failing to file a required annual report — about 10 weeks before the fatality — and the company also lacked the Certificate of Authority New Jersey requires for out-of-state businesses operating there.