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WALKER - Cass County invited the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to inspect the county's buildings in Walker and has begun making some remedial changes to meet OSHA standards. The county's last OSHA inspection was in 1991.

"We knew we needed additional outlets, because of the number of extension cords and spiders of power strips in use in the courthouse," Tim Richardson, Central Services director, told the county board Tuesday.

He also expected to need some ground-fault circuit interrupters, he said, pointing to the boardroom coffeepot. For many years it has been plugged into the front of an oven and sits about 2 inches from a sink.

The board awarded a contract Tuesday to the lowest qualified firm submitting a quote at $45 per hour, Lowe Electric of Walker, to install at least 45 additional outlets and 12 more GFCI outlets in the courthouse complex.

OSHA also found disconnect boxes, which were not marked as to what they control, Richardson said.

The county has been storing lawn mowers, snowblowers, saws, leaf blowers and gas for this equipment in a lower basement under the jail. That has to be moved to some other type of storage structure outside the building, he said.

Cleaning chemicals used to clean the courthouse buildings either need to have ingredient identification that verifies they are not caustic or acidic or the county would need to supply cleaning staff with protective gear, Richardson said. The board suggested looking for less harsh, greener cleaning products.

OSHA requires an eyewash station within a 10-second run from anywhere on each of the three courthouse floors. Cass has only one eyewash station for the whole building. Richardson recommended purchasing a portable eyewash station that can be used anywhere in the building.

The county needs to provide fall hazard protection for employees who service equipment on the courthouse roof, he said.

The board voted Tuesday to restart the county safety committee, assigning that role to the county's personnel committee. The county has 90 days from May 5 to make improvements to avoid an OSHA fine.

Richardson reported the county received an energy-efficiency and conservation block grant of up to $100,000 to upgrade the courthouse complex and Health, Human and Veterans Services building heating and cooling control systems.[[In-content Ad]]

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