OSHA issues $370k fine tied to manufacturer's repeated violations

October 24th, 2019 by Dakota Software Staff

A third inspection over a multiyear period led the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to fine a New Jersey business more than $370,000. The most recent accident involved several violations, as local news source NJ.com pointed out, including a failure to follow proper lockout/tagout procedures as well as problems with machine guarding and warehouse lighting. In all, OSHA inspectors counted 10 separate violations, including four falling into the willful category, in an inspection conducted in April 2019. The federal health and safety watchdog released the results of the inspection and related citations in late October.

Company called a repeat violator by OSHA

"The company has been fined nearly $600,000 across three inspections."

The string of health and safety violations associated with the business, which produces fencing, were first recorded by OSHA in 2015. At that time, a worker on the company's production line suffered a serious injury, having two fingers amputated when he attempted to fix an issue with a large weaver machine. EHS Today reported the company was initially fined $31,100 for the 15 issues discovered during the inspection after the initial incident, which was eventually reduced to $9,000 on appeal. The company was required to correct those concerns following the resolution of the inspection and payment of the fine, but ultimately failed to do so.

After a subsequent OSHA inspection in 2017 revealed that no corrective action had occurred to address the energy control issue tied to the weaver machine, among other concerns. That led to another fine just below $200,000 and a similar requirement to address the existing problems as well as new ones that inspectors cited during that second site visit. However, the most recent inspection in Spring 2019 revealed the company had still failed to completely fulfill its responsibilities related to hazard abatement.

"OSHA has inspected [the company] three times since 2015, and repeated violators cannot be tolerated," said Loren Sweatt, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, in a press release from the agency. "Employers who do not comply with the law will continue to see full and fair enforcement."

The company's repeated issues with addressing cited health and safety violations within its facilities has led to penalties totaling close to $600,000, with the possibility for more sanctions in the future if the cited problems aren't addressed. The company has 15 days from the issuance of the citation to comply with the order, request an informal conference with the area OSHA director or contest the findings.