The owner of Window Master Inc. is confident lead levels at his Dublin shop are now below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration actionable levels.
“We are a family-oriented company and I would never put my employees in harm’s way, other than through my own ignorance,” said Owner and President David Voorhis in an interview Thursday. “Things like this take time. We have to do testing.”
Voorhis said he is working to appeal $40,400 in proposed fines, because if his company is fined, it will hinder what he can do to mediate the issues. Window Master was cited on May 25 for six repeat violations and three additional serious violations over a two-month span.
“OSHA cited us because they want us to put in showers,” said Voorhis, who said a shower would cost $5,000. “We are working to get lead levels so low that our employees wouldn’t need to shower before they left.”
Voorhis said his company has been working with OSHA for five years now to reduce the levels of lead in the workplace. The lead comes in, according to Voorhis, when his employees work on restoring older windows that had lead paint on them.
While the company no longer strips the paint from the windows, Voorhis said lead can seep into the wood. Voorhis said his company is working to change a few things to reduce lead levels.
“We have reengineered one of the rooms and changed the air flow,” said Voorhis.
“We want to have two clean rooms but we need money to do it. As a company that makes under a million gross, we can’t pay fines like these and fix the problems.”
Voorhis said his building is under the lead levels specified by OSHA, but he requires testing to prove the case.
Voorhis said part of the reason he is fighting the proposed fines is because some of the tests he was cited for by OSHA were only marginally higher than their actionable levels.
“OSHA’s methods are a little archaic,” said Voorhis. “Everything is black and white for OSHA, but for a business, everything is in shades of grey.”
Window Master was cited for exposing its employees to unsafe levels of lead, including in the lunch room area. Additionally, Window Master was cited for not ensuring that their employees wore proper protective gear.
“Overexposure to lead can cause permanent kidney, blood and reproductive damage,” said Rosemarie Cole, Concord OSHA area director.
“This employer needs to provide effective safeguards to correct hazards and prevent them from happening again.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.