Barney’s Police Supply firing range workers exposed to lead respiratory hazards, OSHA investigators find

Employer Name: Barney’s Inc. doing business as Barney’s Police Supply

Inspection Site: 218 Four Park Road, Lafayette, LA 70507

Citations issued: June 6, 2016

Investigation Findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration began an inspection Jan. 13, 2016, at Barney’s Inc. firing range in Lafayette after an employee complained to the agency about lead exposure. As a result, investigators found 16 serious violations for exposing workers to hazardous levels of lead from spent ammunition rounds in violation of the Respiratory Protection and Lead Standards. Investigators found the employer:

• Did not provide medical evaluations.
• Failed to fit test and train employees prior to allowing them to use respirators.
• Allowed unshaven employees to conduct dry sweeping of dust containing lead that may prevent the respirator from sealing properly and allow particles to reach the individual’s nose.
• Exposed employees to airborne lead levels above the permissible exposure level.
• Did not provide showers and adequate decontamination units.
• Failed to conduct biological monitoring for blood lead levels.
• Did not maintain a hazard communication program.

Proposed penalties: $78,400

Quote: “Lead exposure can cause many serious health issues including brain damage, kidney disease and harm to the reproductive system,” said Dorinda Folse, OSHA’s Area Director in Baton Rouge. “The company must make immediate changes to its respiratory protection and lead program to ensure workers are not exposed to lead or carrying it home with them from their shift.”

Link to citations: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/legacy-files/newsroom/newsreleases/BarneysInc.pdf

Barney’s, Inc., doing business as Barney’s Police Supply, is a firing range and police supply facility in Lafayette. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Baton Rouge Area Office at 225-298-5458.