NJ: Durability of OSHA Warning Makes State Case

A New Jersey Appellate Court has ruled that the wife of a man who was killed on the job when a drum at his workplace exploded can sue the manufacturer and her claim is not preempted by federal law under OSHA. In Beadling v. William Bowman Associates (No. A-0351-01T3, November 14, 2002) the deceased worked at an asphalt company. He used a 55-gallon drum, that at one time contained methanol, as a workbench for cutting sheet metal with an acetylene torch. A label that warned of the flammability of methanol was obscured by a dark oily residue. He was killed in the resulting explosion and fire. T...