OSHA Actions
OSHA cites employer $106,650 after inspection
Federal safety officials have fined a New York employer $106,650 for alleged safety and health violations after an inspection prompted by the company’s above-average injury rates. The penalties may be a warning of things to come for employers whose high injury rates could put them in the sights of safety inspectors.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Fedco Automotive Components Company of Buffalo, NY, and proposed penalties of $106,650 for one alleged willful, 19 alleged serious, and four alleged other-than-serious violations of OSHA standards. The company can contest the citations.
The penalties resulted from an investigation begun in May 1998 at the company’s plant, which manufactures copper, brass, and aluminum automotive heater cores. OSHA began the investigation as part of a program that targets companies whose injury and illness rates are at least two times the national average. The program replaces the Cooperative Compliance Program, which is now under a court stay. The Cooperative Compliance Program would have offered these companies an opportunity to work closely with OSHA to correct deficiencies, but its legality has been questioned.
In the meantime, OSHA is sending inspectors to some employers who are known to put workers at above-average risk. When inspectors visited the Fedco plant, they found that workers were at risk of amputation, a hazard that has been targeted for reduction in OSHA’s strategic plan. Of the $106,500 penalty, $49,500 comes from what OSHA says was the company’s willful violation of the noise protection standard by failing to ensure employee protection in a noise-training program. The company was cited for a number of violations, including:
- failing to carry out a lockout/tagout program;
- failing to have a magnetic restart on radial arm saw and power presses;
- failing to establish safe die-setting processes;
- failing to reduce the pressure at compressed air nozzles to safe levels;
- failing to conduct proper lead exposure monitoring.
OSHA cited another employer with $112,500 in penalties for violating the general duty clause. Unlike the Fedco investigation, this one was prompted by an employee complaint about safety hazards. OSHA began investigating Manhattan Beer Distributors on May 19, 1998, and found that the company failed to provide a safe workplace, as required by the all-encompassing general duty clause. The company was cited for four repeat violations, one willful violation, and four serious violations of OSHA standards.
OSHA alleges that the company exposed workers to fall hazards by routinely lifting employees with a forklift truck by having the employee stand on a wooden pallet on the forklift tines or directly on the tines. The company also was cited for several other violations, including:
- failure to have aisles and passageways appropriately marked;
- failure to have a written hazard communication program;
- failure to have a place of employment that was clean and orderly;
- failure to provide training for forklift operators.
Small drop reported in fatal injuries
Overall fatal injuries in the United States are falling slightly, but the rate of workplace injuries and deaths remains about the same as it has been in recent years, according to a new report from the National Safety Council In Itasca, IL.
Preventable injuries, those related to car crashes, fires, falls, poisonings, and other unintentional causes, were the fifth leading cause of death in the country in 1997, the report says. The Council says 93,800 people died of fatal injuries in 1997, down from 100,000 in 1996. There were 5,150 occupational fatalities due to unintentional injuries in the workplace in 1997. About 1,068 additional workplace deaths were due to homicide or suicide. The number of deaths increased 2% over the previous year. The four leading fatal events in the workplace in 1997 were highway traffic incidents, homicide, falls to a lower level, and being struck by an object.
Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of workplace deaths in 1997 overall, but homicide was the leading cause of workplace deaths for women.
The council says the figures are encouraging because fatalities and injuries have not increased despite millions of more jobs and a 30% growth in the economy. On the other hand, on-the-job traffic crashes have increased nearly 20% in the past five years. Fatal injuries to women and workers aged 45 and older have increased.
For a copy of the report, Accident Facts, contact the National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143-3201. Telephone: (630) 775-2307. Fax: (630) 775-2310. The cost is $37.95.
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