Ford settles citations for problems OSHA finds
December 1, 1999 3 minutes read
Ford settles citations for problems OSHA finds
The Ford Motor Company in Hamburg, NY, has agreed to settle citations for 16 alleged repeat violations, six alleged serious violations, and three alleged other-than-serious violations of federal safety standards. The company has agreed to pay $175,000 in penalties.
David Boyce, area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says the action results from an investigation at Ford’s Buffalo stamping plant, begun in March and completed Sept. 24. The investigation was conducted under OSHA’s interim targeting process, which focuses on industries with higher-than-average injury and illness rates.
The company was cited for 16 alleged repeat violations carrying a penalty of $160,600, including:
• deficiencies in guarding power presses, shafts, belts, pulleys, conveyors, and other machinery;
• electrical hazards;
• failure to maintain adequate aisle widths;
• storage of oxygen and acetylene cylinders together;
• failure to conduct adequate inspections of power presses.
Conditions were cited in ’98-99
A repeat violation is one for which an employer has been previously cited for the same or a substantially similar condition and the citation has become a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The repeat violations in this instance were based on conditions previously cited in October 1998 in Brook Park, OH; December 1998 in Cincinnati; April 1999 in Chicago Heights, IL, as well as elsewhere before October 1998.
The alleged serious violations, carrying a total penalty of $14,000, for which the employer was cited include:
• failing to guard openings in the floor;
• failing to comply with requirements for mechanical power presses;
• failing to properly guard rotating shaft couplings;
• failing to equip fan motors with means to be disconnected;
• failing to provide training or fit-testing to employees using respirators.
The firm also was cited for having aisles restricted by parked vehicles, missing railings on stairways, and lockout locks used for other purposes — three alleged other-than-serious violations carrying a total penalty of $400.
A serious violation is defined as a condition that exists where there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm can result. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm but would have a direct and immediate relationship to the safety and health of employees.
Boyce says OSHA’s Buffalo area office and the Ford Motor Co. reached an agreement that includes language to allow a closer working relationship between OSHA, Ford management, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) at the Ford Buffalo stamping plant.
The company agreed to provide safety and health training to supervisors, committee persons, and the safety audit teams for a better understanding in addressing safety and health issues.
Ford and the UAW also agreed that enforcement of safety rules would be done jointly by union and management. The company agreed to re-train any employee disciplined for violating a safety rule before the employee returns to work.
The local plant management team has agreed with the union and OSHA to assess provisions on power presses concerning testing of stop time (a safety delay from the moment of pressing the control to machine activation) as well as to ensure adequate distance from the operator’s position to the point of press impact. The team also has agreed to perform a hazard assessment on scrap-chute openings during the retooling or repair of power presses.
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