LIVERMORE FALLS — The state’s Bureau of Labor Standards has fined the town $4,200 for dozens of workplace condition violations in departments and at the Public Works Garage, Transfer Station, library, Fire Station, Police Station, Town Office and Treatment Plant.
The town has until Nov. 14 to correct the deficiencies, and then the penalty could be lowered.
Livermore went through the same process in December 2013 and once the violations were corrected and reinspected, the assessed $1,600 penalty was lowered to $160 earlier this year.
A state inspector made a surprise visit on Aug. 4 and found the violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules and cited the town for 61 violations, but some departments shared the same violation, Town Manager Kristal Flagg said.
The Police Department had one citation, the Sewer Treatment Plant had three citations and the Fire Department had two citations, all at $700 per citation totaling $4,200, Flagg said.
She told selectmen Tuesday that many of the violations have been corrected.
“We have old buildings,” she said.
A lot of deficiencies were electrical, and there were some training issues, she said.
Workers have been trained but were not up to date on new standards, she said. In some cases, training was not completed for all employees.
Flagg said she has written a letter to the state informing them that corrective action has been taken on most items and requested some forgiveness of the citation amounts.
“We haven’t had one of these (inspections) in a long time,” she said. “We are looking at this as a learning experience.”
She will meet with department heads to go over the issues and to put a plan in place to prevent them from happening again.
“We’re not happy with this by any means,” she said. The town wants to have a safe place for employees, she said.
Among the violations in several buildings were use of extension cords to run equipment, personal protective equipment hazards assessments not completed and hepatitis shot series or waivers for all eligible employees were not completed.
Other violations included unused openings not plugged and breaker panels being blocked. In other cases, training assessments or hazard assessments were either not completed for all employees.
Disconnects for two welders were blocked, a drill press near a vehicle lift was not secured to the floor and a vehicle lift had no current annual inspection.
A couple of exit routes were blocked in a storage room, and liquid propane tanks lacked protection from plow blades and motorized equipment in another area.
“There are some issues in (the inspector’s report) that should not have happened,” Selectman Ron Chadwick said.
He questioned whether selectmen should meet in executive session to discuss violations with department heads.
Chairwoman Louise Chabot said Flagg was taking care of it. She is the personnel manager, she said.
“I’m working with them all to make sure they are getting done,” Flagg said.
Selectman Mary Young said she would like to see a policy that included a strategic plan to make sure all departments are meeting requirements.
Fire Chief Tim “TD” Hardy said the Maine Department of Labor has a program intended to help keep workers safe on the job by reducing workplace injuries that the town can get involved with. The program is offered through SafetyWorks!, which offers its services free of charge, according to the state website.
Chabot told Flagg she was doing a good job trying to resolve the issues and if an issue comes up that she needs help with, to let the board know.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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