AmeriPath Lab In Shelton Fined $152,000 For Safety Violations

A Shelton laboratory that performs diagnostic services for doctors and hospitals has been fined $152,000 for worker-safety violations, including failing to provide appropriate medical exams to employees who had symptoms of exposure to hazardous chemicals, federal regulators said Thursday.

Workers with AmeriPath laboratory at 1 Greenwich Place had filed a complaint with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in March, reporting sore throats, headaches and difficulty breathing. The AmeriPath pathology labs, which analyze a wide range of tissues, are owned by Quest Diagnostics.

Inspectors with OSHA's Bridgeport office found that the lab directors breached hazardous-chemical safety procedures that are standard in the industry, OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said.

In addition to the lack of medical exams for the symptomatic workers, the lab failed to inform staff members of the signs and symptoms of exposure to acetic acid, alcohols, formaldehyde, xylene and other chemicals used in the laboratory, OSHA said.

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