Florenza Marble & Granite Corp., a Chicago countertop manufacturer, faces over $1 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after the agency learned an employee needed a double lung transplant due to accelerated silicosis.
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OSHA Findings
According to OSHA, the company failed to protect its six employees from silica dust exposure, leading to two workers developing incurable lung disease. A 31-year-old employee required a double-lung transplant, while his 59-year-old father and co-worker also awaits a silicosis-related lung transplant. A 47-year-old employee has been treated for unresolved work-related lung disease for more than three years.
Violations
OSHA found 20 serious violations related to the company’s lack of housekeeping, respirator deficiencies, lack of a silica exposure control plan or hazard communication program, not training employees in the use of compressed air, and allowing its improper use. Workers were allegedly exposed to silica levels up to six times higher than permissible limits.
Company Response
The U.S. Department of Labor accused the company’s owner, Brad Karp, of being indifferent to his employees’ suffering and refusing to accept responsibility for protecting them, even after two insurance carriers dropped the company in 2022 and 2024 for its “egregious defiance of workplace safety standards”.
Safety Talk Resource
For more information on silica exposure safety and protecting workers from hazardous dust, please refer to this safety talk resource.
