OSHA has cited Elixir Industries, Inc., for exposing workers to amputation dangers and other safety hazards at a Fitzgerald, Ga., metal fabrication plant. The agency issued 12 serious citations, with proposed penalties totaling $48,078.
During an Aug. 6 inspection, an OSHA investigator observed Elixir employees operating power presses that did not have required safety guards to prevent workers' fingers, hands and arms from being pulled into the machinery.
"Unguarded power presses cause some of the most serious and debilitating worker injuries," said John Deifer, OSHA's Savannah area director. "Safety standards are designed to protect workers who operate these machines, and they must be strictly followed."
The company also allegedly failed to perform required equipment inspections, which is another necessary precaution that prevents worker injuries and deaths.
Included in the OSHA citations were: lack of machine guarding on power presses; failure to conduct annual "lockout-tagout" inspections to assure that machinery is rendered inoperable during routine maintenance or repair; failure to perform annual inspection of overhead cranes for wear and defects, and failure to train employees who inspect and operate power presses.
The company has 15 working days to contest the OSHA citations and proposed penalties before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA Issues Inspection Fact Sheets
Two new fact sheets describing the OSHA inspection process and the Agency's role in investigating occupational deaths are now available.
"OSHA is committed to strong, fair and effective enforcement of agency safety and health requirements," said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. "We want to be sure that employers, workers and the public understand our general inspection procedures and our part in responding to worker deaths on the job."
Eaton Corporation Earns Another "Star" From OSHA
OSHA has recognized Eaton Corporation of Kearney, Neb., for achieving nine years of excellence in worker health and safety.
Eaton Corporation was approved for OSHA's "Star" program in April 1994. The plant employs 714 workers who manufacture engine valves and gears. In addition to an exemplary safety and health program, OSHA's review team found that the facility had a lost workday injury and illness rate 86 percent below the industry national average.
"Eaton Corporation has exhibited excellence in effective safety and health management, worker training and involvement, and the application of appropriate resources into these areas," said OSHA Regional Administrator Charles E. Adkins, CIH. Adkins commended top-level management for its close participation in the company's safety and health program, saying it has been a key to its effectiveness.
From coast to coast, there are approximately 1,000 work sites participating in VPP.
VPP work places have shown that safety and health are effective investments. VPP sites experience fewer employee injuries and illnesses, reduced workers' compensation costs, improved productivity, improved employee morale, and recognition in the community. Existing programs are further improved through reviews that are part of the process.
Information about the VPP application and approval process is available from the Voluntary Protection Program Participants' Association in Falls Church, Va. (703) 761-1146.
OSHA Cites Food Manufacturing Company For Worker Death
Michael Angelo's Gourmet Foods Inc., in Austin, Texas, has agreed to pay $140,220 in penalties for citations issued by the OSHA for failure to provide employees with adequate protection and training to prevent machinery from starting up during cleaning operations.
A worker for the frozen food manufacturer was killed in June when he was pulled into a meat mixer.
OSHA began its investigation on June 13 after the employee was found dead by a co-worker at the company's headquarters. Michael Angelo Gourmet Foods employs about 440 workers at that location.
The company was cited for 10 safety and health violations for exposing employees to electrical hazards such as defective electrical cords, failing to properly guard machinery that could cause amputations and other injuries, failing to ensure locks were provided on machinery requiring maintenance, and failing to train its employees to perform lockout procedures. Lockout/tag-out involves shutting off and locking out the energy source to a machine that is undergoing maintenance or repair to prevent an accidental startup.
OSHA has inspected Michael Angelo twice since 2000, and the company has paid more than $63,000 in penalties for similar violations.
Michael Angelo's Gourmet Foods has agreed to fully comply with OSHA's standards by providing lock out/tag out training for its employees, managers and supervisors. The company also has agreed to abate the violations and certify their abatement within 10 days. In addition, the company will retain the services of an outside consultant to review its safety and health program.
OSHA Cites Tire Distributor Following Safety Investigation
OSHA has cited Friend Tire Company for alleged willful and serious safety violations at the company's St. Charles, Mo. warehouse, following a complaint investigation. Proposed penalties total $135,100.
The investigation began in June after an employee fractured his skull when he fell from an elevated, unguarded wooden pallet supported by the forks of an industrial forklift truck. The company's records also identified two previous worker falls involving its storage system.
OSHA issued citations for three alleged willful violations for elevating workers by using industrial trucks with pallets as the work platforms, allowing employees to free climb the frames of the storage racks and having holes in the floors of work platforms, through which two employees fell.
The serious alleged violations included open-sided floors that exposed workers to fall hazards; structurally damaged mobile ladder stands without wheel locks and missing handrails; improperly stored gas cylinders; unstable storage racks built on unsecured and severely damaged wood pallets; powered industrial trucks without legible load limit markings; and inadequate training provided for forklift operators.
Willful violations are those committed with intentional disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the OSH Act and regulations. Serious violations are those in which there is substantial probability of death or serious physical harm from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.
Friend Tire is headquartered in Monet, Mo., and recently moved its warehouse from St. Louis to St. Charles, where it employs 24 workers. The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply with them, to request and to participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA Fines Rite Aid Drugstore $134,500 for Locked Exits, Other Safety Hazards
Safety infractions, including locking an exit door, have resulted in $134,500 in proposed penalties against Rite Aid of New York, Inc., located at 650 Castle Hill Ave., Bronx, N.Y.
OSHA has cited the company, which operates a pharmacy, for alleged willful, serious and repeat violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The action results from an investigation initiated on June 12 in response to a complaint about blocked exit doors.
As a result of OSHA's inspection, the company has been cited for one alleged willful violation of a federal safety and health standard, which carries a proposed penalty of $70,000 - the maximum allowed under the law, for the company's practice of keeping an emergency exit door locked and secured during working hours.
The company was also cited for two alleged serious violations that carry proposed penalties totaling $7,000. These include the company's failure to maintain stairs in a clean and sanitary condition and its bypassing of the interlock on a cardboard compactor, making the machine's point-of-operation guard inoperable.
Finally, Rite Aid of New York was cited for three alleged repeat violations, with proposed penalties totaling $57,500, for failure to post an exit sign on an exit door, failure to train employees in the use of fire extinguishers and failure to maintain free and unobstructed access to fire extinguishers.
A "repeat" violation is issued when an employer was cited previously for a substantially similar condition and the citation has become a final order. The company has until Dec. 29 to contest the citations
Motiva Enterprises LLC Agrees to Pay $132,000 in Penalties For Workplace Safety and Health Violations
Workers employed at the Delaware City, Del., petroleum refinery of Motiva Enterprises LLC will benefit from an agreement in which Motiva has agreed to pay $132,000 in penalties and to correct hazardous workplace conditions. The citations were issued by OSHA
The agreement is also being endorsed by the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE), Local 2-898.
OSHA initiated a comprehensive investigation of the company's process safety management program in June 2003. As a result of the investigation, Motiva was cited for deficiencies involving the company's written operating procedures and mechanical integrity (equipment inspection and testing) program, as well as its failure to establish a system to promptly resolve recommendations resulting from incident investigations and required process hazard analyses.
As part of the settlement, Motiva has agreed not to contest the OSHA citation and to take a number of safety-related actions in addition to the abatement actions required by the OSHA citation.
Scrap Metal Company Faces OSHA Citations And Penalties For Exposing Employees To Lead And Arsenic
OSHA has cited Metal Management Alabama, Inc., for allegedly exposing workers to high levels of lead and arsenic at a Vanderbilt Road scrap metal processing facility. OSHA has proposed $55,000 in penalties.
Part of the processing operation occurs in the yard area of the plant where employees, using propane-oxygen torches, cut large pieces of metal. Tests done during a Sept. 4th OSHA inspection showed that these workers were exposed to amounts of lead and arsenic in excess of the legally permissible limits.
"Overexposure to these elements can cause serious health problems, including lead poisoning and cancer," said Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's Birmingham area director. "OSHA has health standards to protect workers from these hazards, and it is important that employers strictly follow them."
OSHA issued 11 serious citations to the company for alleged violations, including failure to conduct employee respirator fit-testing, to conduct initial and follow-up medical monitoring, to establish a regulated area where high concentrations of arsenic were likely to occur and to post warnings alerting employees to the dangers of overexposure.
The company also allegedly failed to implement engineering and work practice controls to reduce exposure, such as installing air filters and positive pressure controls in lunchroom facilities and requiring employees to shower before leaving the plant.
The company has 15 days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
OSHA Cites Company For Serious Safety Hazards
OSHA has cited Distribution International and proposed penalties totaling $65,250 for exposing workers to 20 alleged serious safety hazards at the company's Mobile, Alabama fabrication shop.
Employees at the plant cut and shape foam glass used as pipe insulation. During an inspection that began June 11, workers were observed using band saws and abrasive grinders without safety guards. Numerous electrical hazards were also observed including machines with faulty electrical switches and cords, missing covers on electrical panels and outlet boxes and inadequate wiring.
"Protecting workers must be a priority for employers," said Ken Atha, OSHA's Mobile area director. "Machines must be guarded to prevent workers from being injured by moving parts, as well as adequate wiring to protect against electrocution."
OSHA also found that the company had no emergency action plan, failed to implement a lockout/tagout program that would render machinery inoperable during repairs and maintenance, did not provide forklift and fire extinguisher training to employees, failed to provide fall protection for employees working from a 9-foot platform and exposed employees to slip hazards by allowing leaking water to accumulate on the floor.
Distribution International has 15 working days to contest the OSHA citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.