OSHA has cited Henkels & McCoy Inc. of New Jersey for six serious safety violations at a Neptune work site, where workers were performing water service repair on a road. OSHA issued $42,000 in proposed penalties following an April inspection opened under the agency's national emphasis program on trenches and local emphasis program on highways.

The violations include the company's failure to:

• have a competent person provide frequent and regular inspections of the job site, materials and equipment
• follow the required use of proper traffic control signs and devices that protect workers
• place the required three advance warning signs to indicate highway space ahead undergoing work
• follow the mandatory requirements and usage guidance for hand signaling devices
• ensure workers conformed to hand signaling procedures; and
• properly set up a flagger station.

"Without the proper precautions, highway workers are vulnerable to a number of hazards from outside and inside the work zone, such as being struck by vehicles," said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA's Marlton Area Office.

Henkels & McCoy Inc., headquartered in Blue Bell, Penn., operates centers and offices nationwide and abroad. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director in Marlton, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.