OSHA Actions: Fatal accident to cost manufacturer $93,600
December 1, 2000 2 minutes read
OSHA Actions
Fatal accident to cost manufacturer $93,600
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Joelson Concrete Pipe Company and proposed fines totaling $93,600 following a fatal accident at the company’s Kissimmee, FL, plant.
According to Lawrence Falck, OSHA’s Tampa area director, the accident occurred on March 27 just before quitting time at the plant, which manufactures precast sound walls and steel reinforced concrete piping.
Falck says that the manufacturing process for concrete piping involves three stations rotating like a carousel table around a pit. On the table’s first turn, a casing is lowered over a core, already in the pit; on the next turn, concrete is poured into the casing and core and, on the last turn, the concrete is pressed to form a pipe.
"To save time at the end of the day, workers would enter the 7-foot-deep pit and start cleaning the rotating table while piping was still being manufactured at the other two stations," Falck says. "This practice conflicts with the manufacturer’s prohibition against employees being inside the pit while the equipment is in operation. As a result, a worker’s head was crushed when he was caught between pinch points created by the rotating carousel table."
Following investigation of the accident, OSHA cited the company for one willful violation for failure to enforce its lockout policy and to train workers about lockout/tagout procedures, which render a machine inoperable during maintenance and repair.
Grouped with this violation, another was cited for not developing and implementing equipment-specific lockout/tagout procedures. The willful citation carries a $63,000 penalty.
Nine additional serious violations will cost Joelson Concrete Pipe Company another $30,600. The serious citations include: failing to protect employees from falling into a permanent floor opening or from open sided platforms; exposing workers to hazards associated with climbing stairways with risers higher than 10 inches; machine guarding deficiencies; electrical hazards, and permit-required confined space deficiencies.
"This company was aware that its employees were not protected from moving machine parts," Falck says. "The equipment manufacturer had provided training to the employer and there were appropriate warning signs on the equipment. When a hazard is known, the employer has an obligation to protect workers who might be affected. Being proactive prior to an OSHA inspection can alleviate expensive penalties and, more importantly, can prevent accidents and save lives."
The company, which does business as Joelson Taylor Concrete Products, employs about 68 workers at the Kissimmee location.
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