OSHA has proposed penalties of $100,000 or more for the following recent alleged failures to protect workers from potential hazards, including many that could have been avoided or mitigated by personal protective equipment. Companies have 15 business days from receipt of citations and fines to request and participate in informal conferences with OSHA or to contest the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission:
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Cintas Corp., $2.78 million following an inspection into a March 2007 employee death at the company's laundry facility in Tulsa, Okla. The employee was killed when he fell into an operating industrial dryer while clearing a jam of wet laundry on a conveyor that carries laundry from the washer into the dryer. Ohio-based Cintas is the largest uniform supplier in North America. OSHA inspectors found 42 willful violations of the OSHA lockout/tagout standard. Three serious citations allege failures to protect employees from falls. “Plant management at the Cintas Tulsa laundry facility ignored safety and health rules that could have prevented the death of this employee,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr.
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American Airlines, headquartered in Dallas, $458,500 for multiple serious, repeat and willful violations, including fall hazards, uncovered during two inspections at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. OSHA had selected American for inspections after reviewing the company's occupational injury and illness data.
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Tyson Foods Inc., $339,500 for serious, willful, repeat and other violations of safety and health standards at the company's Noel, Mo., facility. Serious violations alleged a lack of exhaust duct grease filters and inspections; floors not maintained in a clean and dry condition, and unguarded walking/working surfaces above four feet.
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Koch Foods, Cumming, Ga., $253,500 for safety and health violations, including not providing an emergency eyewash station for employees handling corrosive materials and lack of effort to protect employees from noise exposure.
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Quincy Castings Inc., $220,620 for multiple violations of federal health and safety standards at its iron foundry business in Quincy, Ohio. Citations included failure of employees to use flame-retardant clothing and protective gear while pouring molten metal, and failure to have an effective respiratory protection program.
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Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers, $189,000 for violations uncovered following a double fatality in February 2007 at the grain storage and farm supply cooperative in Carrollton, Mo. Violations included failing to provide a lifeline or alternative means for employees walking or standing on or in stored grain.
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Shane Felter Industries Inc., $166,400 for multiple workplace safety and health violations at the company's steel beam fabricating operation in Uniontown, Pa. Violations included an inadequate hearing conservation program and inadequate PPE.
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Republic Engineered Products Inc., $163,000 for multiple violations, including failing to protect open-sided floors and work platforms against potential fall hazards, at the company's steel mill in Lorain, Ohio.
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Kings Delight, $155,000 for 21 safety and health violations, including failure to provide emergency eyewash and shower stations for employees handling corrosive materials and incorrect use of respirators, at the company's poultry-processing plant in Braselton, Ga.
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Kate Corp., $150,700 for 23 violations at the company's Berea, Ohio, operation, where metal stamping, fabricated metal products and welded assemblies are manufactured; OSHA inspected after an accident cost an assembly employee a thumb.
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A.E. New Jr. Inc., Gulf Breeze, Fla., $146,000 for eight safety violations found at school construction sites in Milton, Fla., including lack of fall protection and head protection.
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San Antonio Lath & Plaster, Houston, $141,600 for violations, including employees working without appropriate fall protection, at a Sugar Land, Texas, construction site.
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Boston Felt Co. Inc., $134,900 for 66 violations, including not ensuring the use of hearing protection by employees exposed to high noise levels and lack of PPE, at the company's felt products manufacturing facility in Rochester, N.H.
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Chemcentral Corp., headquartered in Bedford Park, Ill., $126,500 for six serious safety and health violations, including lack of fall protection, uncovered during an inspection following a February fire and multiple explosions at the company's Kansas City, Mo., chemical distribution facility. This event also has led to a civil complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Fast-J Steel Erectors and Magna Steel Erectors, both based in Houston, $123,750 for serious and repeat safety violations committed while constructing a metal building near Gadsden, Ala. Violations included failure of employees to wear protective head gear and lack of fall protection.
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Cappaert Manufactured Housing Inc., $118,300 for 43 serious violations at the company's Vicksburg, Miss., plant; safety violations included hazards associated with falls and lockout/tagout.
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Florida Transportation Services, $113,400 for violations uncovered during inspections in January (after an employee died after being crushed between a vehicle and collision barrier) and again in March at the Port Everglades, Fla., marine cargo operation; citations included lack of fall protection.
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Graber Concrete Pipe Co., Bloomingdale, Ill., $106,300 for multiple violations uncovered during an inspection after an employee died in January after being trapped inside a hopper and engulfed by sand and other material; citations included confined space entry violations.