The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday it cited an Alabama brick manufacturer for exposing workers to a substance that could potentially cause irreversible respiratory diseases.
OSHA cited Selma-based Henry Brick Co. Inc. for 11 serious citations and proposed $124,212 in penalties after investigators found the company exposed employees to silica crystalline.
Workers who are overexposed to silica crystalline could contract “incurable, progressively disabling and sometimes fatal illnesses,” OSHA said in a statement.
Henry Brick exposed workers to airborne concentrations of respirable crystalline silica of up to six-and-a-half times permissible exposure levels and it failed to implement work practices to reduce employee exposure to the substance, OSHA said.
The company also required employees to wear respirators without first providing proper training and it neglected to fit test or provide medical evaluation for workers who wear respirators, according to OSHA.
Henry Brick has 15 business days to contest the citation and proposed penalty.