A Houston company that makes powder coatings for outdoor furniture, metals and other materials has been issued fines totaling more than $338,000 for exposing its employees to health and safety hazards that could cause birth defects, cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Outdoor Furniture Refinishing Inc., which operates as Allied Powder Coating at 6030 England St. in south Houston, has been the subject of a federal workplace investigation since December. The labor department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) identified more than 40 violations, including failures to protect workers from inhalation and hearing hazards such as overexposures to dust as well as toxic chemicals like arsenic, beryllium and lead.
OSHA’s investigation, which is ongoing, was initiated by a complaint made against the company by one of its roughly 70 employees, according to labor department spokesperson Juan Rodriguez.
“(Allied Powder Coating) has a legal responsibility to ensure its employees have a safe work environment and must do better at understanding the hazards that exist in the work they do,” Larissa Ipsen, a Houston-based area director for OSHA, said in a news release. “Employers are required to know all dangers present in their workplace and develop procedures, provide safety equipment and train employees to ensure workers are protected from immediate and long-term hazards.”
Allied Powder Coating did not immediately respond to a message Wednesday seeking comment. As of Monday, the company had 15 days to contest OSHA’s findings or correct the violations and pay the proposed fines.
The family-owned company has been in business since the 1980s and offers metal refinishing services throughout Texas for residential, commercial and industrial applications, according to the labor department. Allied Powder Coating says on its website that it operates in a 76,000-square foot building that is “one of the largest powder coating facilities in Texas, consisting of two large batch ovens, a conveyor line system and plating operations.” The company also does sandblasting.
Regarding its powder-coating operations, the company says on its website that “finely ground particles of pigment and resin are electrostatically charged and sprayed onto products to be coated.”
OSHA issued Allied Powder Coating a total of 39 “serious” violations. Among them were failures to provide respirators, maintain a protective spray booth and establish regulated areas for arsenic and beryllium, along with failing to provide required training, medical surveillance and air monitoring. The company also did not have showers and changing rooms specifically for employees who were overexposed to arsenic, beryllium and lead, according to the labor department.
“OSHA has not identified any workers that had experienced health problems to date, but we only evaluated current workers,” Rodriguez said. “Most of the workers performing the work had been with the company for 1-2 years.”
Allied Powder Coating also was cited for five “other-than-serious” violations for not having readily accessible fire extinguishers and not evaluating and certifying forklift operators, the labor department said.