GE Cited for 50 Safety Offenses at Plant in O.C.

ANAHEIM —  General Electric Co. was cited Tuesday for 50 violations of state worker-safety rules and fined $11,000 for failing to provide adequate protection and training for employees who handle dangerous chemicals at its plant here.

James Brown, Cal/OSHA’s manager in Orange County, said the number of violations found at the GE plant is the highest in the county in recent memory. Six of them were considered “serious” under state rules, which means they are capable of posing a great risk to the health and safety of workers.

“It is certainly above average in the number of violations found. It’s been a long time since we had that many,” Brown said. “If nothing else, it points out there is some training and things (the workers) need to know from the company.”

Cal/OSHA has told the GE Apparatus Service Center to correct all violations within a month and to conduct extensive training for employees in the handling of chemicals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently suspended the plant’s license to handle PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, after it found that soil, asphalt and worker equipment had been contaminated with the chemical. The license was reinstated last week after the firm cleaned up the surface contamination and developed a long-range cleanup plan.

Plant manager Mel Dinkel did not return phone calls from The Times on Tuesday. Dinkel has maintained in past interviews that all safety rules were followed at the plant, at 3601 E. La Palma Ave.

The Cal/OSHA investigation was prompted by a complaint from an employee who developed unusual skin lesions. The employee, Steve Sandberg, fears that the lesions may be related to his work with PCBs.

Sandberg and other employees told The Times that their skin and clothing were often soaked with PCBs, and that the company didn’t inform them of the risks or provide safety equipment such as respirators.

The workers said they routinely wore shorts or cotton clothing and regular shoes instead of protective suits and boots while draining PCBs from transformers. They said that their supervisors told them the chemicals were not dangerous and that they were advised to don protective gear only when a government inspector was around.

The employees said the Anaheim plant has been operating under those conditions for several years.

“I’m relieved (by the citations) because people here thought I was crazy, that I was blowing steam,” said Sandberg, a GE employee who handled PCBs at the plant for 2 1/2 years. “I think this will open (management’s) eyes up. They said they were violating no laws, but I think they know now. I’m just glad the PCB department is straightened out.”

Once commonly used as insulation in electric transformers, PCBs were banned by the EPA from use and production in the United States in 1979. The chemicals are considered dangerous because they are easily absorbed through the skin and tend to accumulate in human tissue as well as in the environment.

The Anaheim plant handles about 2 million pounds of PCB waste per year, making it one of the largest decommissioning facilities in the West. The company employees 94 people at the plant, but only seven or eight people directly handle PCBs at any one time.

Jerry Maxwell, a GE switch gear repairman who also complained about the conditions, said plant management on Tuesday held a training session for all employees. The workers were taught the health risks of various toxic solvents and how to use safety equipment for handling them.

“We’re getting specialized training in chemicals we never got before,” he said. “It looks like we’re finally going to get to be the professionals we are supposed to be, that we’re going to get the care and attention we need.”

Maxwell added that the company did not take workers’ complaints seriously until the Cal/OSHA investigation. “I feel it’s a shame to have to go to this extreme to get a proper working situation,” he said.

PCBs are a possible human carcinogen and have been linked in studies to various ailments including chloracne, a curable skin disease, malignant melanoma and liver disease.

Sandberg, former work leader in the plant’s PCB department, was removed from that job in October on doctor’s orders. Medical tests showed that he had 62 parts per billion of PCBs in his blood.

Sandberg, who is now driving trucks and doing other jobs at GE, said his doctors are uncertain what health dangers he faces, if any.

Cal/OSHA records show that violations were found throughout the plant, but many involved workers who handle PCBs. The violations included:

* Lack of a decontamination area for workers handling PCBs.

* Inadequate health and safety training of workers exposed to the health hazards of PCBs and workers assigned to clean up chemical spills.

* Lack of a medical surveillance program for workers handling PCBs.

* Improper respiratory protection for PCBs workers and improper training to use respirators.

* Food and beverages located in areas where they could be contaminated with PCBs.

* Unlabeled chemical containers.

* Clothing that provided “poor to limited” protection from chemicals.

* Fourteen areas with fire and explosion dangers, including electric devices in a paint booth and propane tanks atop combustible materials

The company could have been fined $56,000. Brown said the $11,000 was calculated by using a state rating system, which involves such factors as the size of the plant and the likelihood of injury.

Brown said the company can request a conference to discuss each violation. Often, depending on the evidence of the company, Cal/OSHA is willing to eliminate some or change the rating of others, which reduces the fine.

A PCB Primer

Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are a family of more than 200 synthetic compounds known as chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Important characteristics: They are persistent, lasting for perhaps centuries before they break down.

Uses: Because they are resistant to fire, they are used in electric transformers and capacitors.

Cancer risk: PCBs are classified as an animal carcinogen and a possible carcinogen for people. There is not enough scientific data to prove that they cause cancer in workers.

Route of exposure: PCBs contaminate the food chain when absorbed by animals and fish. Other sources for people are inhalation or skin absorption. They tend to accumulate in fat cells but can migrate and lodge in such organs as the liver and spleen.

Outbreak: In 1968, more than 1,600 Japanese were poisoned by large quantities of PCBs that accidentally got into rice bran oil. The incident helped lead to a U.S. production ban in 1979.

Sources: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times