Artco-Bell Corp., Temple: OSHA silica citation
Workers at Artco-Bell Corp. in Temple, Texas were exposed to silica dust, so OSHA cited the company. On October 21, 2024, the Labor Department made the citation public.
What inspectors found at the whole workplace goes in the citation; your own health and work there decide whether you can claim.
- Penalty proposed, all hazards
- $257,183
- Violations, every hazard in this citation
- 24 serious
- Announced
- October 21, 2024
- Citation issued by
- OSHA
- Where
- Temple, Texas
- Kind of work
- Designer and manufacturer of school furniture
Worked here? Talk to a lawyer for free: (844) 387-9991
Inspection reason: A worker's hand and arm were seriously and permanently injured, so an investigation followed. The injury happened in April 2024, when a hose used for cleaning machine rollers caught and dragged the worker's arm into the machine.
Findings about silica dust
- Workers were exposed to respirable crystalline silica hazards because of the company.
More hazards in this citation
- The company did not install required machine guards or make sure workers used them.
- Machine rollers pulled in a worker's arm and left the hand and arm seriously and permanently injured.
The employer's time to answer the citation: Once it received the citations and penalties, the company got 15 working days. It could comply, ask OSHA's area director for an informal conference, or contest the case before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent body.
If Artco-Bell was your employer
Even though Artco-Bell isn't a stone or concrete business, inspectors found silica dust hazards there, so the dust came with the work. If your job was at Artco-Bell in Temple, workers' comp usually comes first in a silicosis claim. A lawyer can check if anyone else also shares the blame.
Two ways to claim in Texas
Workers' comp claims in Texas
- to file for workers' comp, once you learn the job caused it
- 1 year
- to let your employer know you're sick
- 30 days
The Department of Insurance, Division of Workers' Compensation is where you file a workers' comp claim in Texas (official site).
In Texas, private employers aren't required to carry workers' comp. If yours had no coverage (Texas calls this a non-subscriber), there is no workers' comp claim, but you can usually sue the employer itself. What a non-subscriber is
Your employer in Texas must be told you're ill within 30 days. The clock starts on the day you knew, or should have known, your work might be to blame. The claim itself must reach the state within a year of the date you learned, or ought to have learned, that your work caused the illness. (Texas Labor Code §409.001 and §409.003)
A lawsuit against the manufacturers
A suit aimed at whoever made the stone or the equipment counts as a different claim, with a deadline all its own. How silicosis lawsuits work
Free claim review by phone
The official source is 24-2128-DAL, a news release from the U.S. Department of Labor. Labor Department news releases are where these records come from, and we refresh them each month.
More Texas employers cited for silica
- RM Masonry and Stucco Inc. in Denton
- Emanuel Enterprises LLC in Houston
- Cavco Industries Inc. in Austin