Baxter fined for safety violations at LA plant
One technician died and two other employees sustained serious injury
Baxter Healthcare Corporation has been fined nearly US$400,000 by the California Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA) for ‘deliberate and wilful’ workplace safety violations at its Baxter Bioscience plant in Atwater Village, Los Angeles.
As a result of these violations, one technician died and two others sustained serious injury.
Cal/OSHA said Baxter has 15 days to appeal or pay the fine of US$371,000.
‘We will not tolerate employers who intentionally sacrifice the safety of their workers,’ said DIR acting director Christine Baker. ‘Our goal is to prevent these needless tragedies and ensure employers live up to their responsibility of protecting their workers.’
On 21 January, technician Henry Astilla collapsed when he entered a 7ft deep, 6,000 litre tank in which nitrogen gas was being bubbled through plasma as part of a protein extraction process. Nitrogen gas had displaced air in the tank resulting in an oxygen deficient atmosphere. Cal/OSHA regulations require employers to have special protective procedures in place before employees enter such confined spaces. In this case, Baxter had not tested the atmosphere prior to Astilla entering the tank to ensure there was sufficient oxygen. Astilla subsequently died.
Cal/OSHA's investigation further revealed that when Astilla was discovered, a supervisor ordered two other members of staff to enter the tank and retrieve him, without testing the atmosphere of the tank or providing proper equipment and other safeguards necessary for a safe rescue. As a result, both employees were seriously injured and one has been in hospital since January.
‘The hazards of working in confined spaces are well documented and this is a classic example of the kind of injury that occurs when employers fail adequately to protect their employees,’ said Cal/OSHA chief Ellen Widess.
‘When confined space operations are not properly planned, it is unfortunately common for other employees to be injured or killed while attempting an impromptu rescue of the initial victim.’
Cal/OSHA said Baxter's confined space policy failed to comply with all requirements, including appropriate atmospheric testing, protective equipment, as well as rescue equipment and procedures.
Baxter Bioscience is a multi-national pharmaceutical company with a Los Angeles plant located in Atwater Village. The facility is the largest of its kind in the nation, utilizing advanced technology to produce plasma proteins.
The citations issued by Cal/OSHA over these incidents included one classified as general and 10 as serious, four of which were classified as wilful. Wilful classifications are issued when an employer either commits a violation and is aware that it violates a safety law, or when an employer is aware that an unsafe or hazardous condition exists and makes no reasonable effort to eliminate the hazard.
