According to Oregon OSHA, eight timeless ways to build safety into your business include:
- Management commitment—Business owners and managers are as committed to workplace safety as they are to any other critical part of the business.
- Accountability—Supervisors and employees are held accountable for following safe work practices.
- Employee involvement—Employees are involved in the day-to-day effort to maintain a safe workplace.
- Hazard identification—Supervisors and employees know how to identify hazards.
- Hazard control—Supervisors and employees know how to eliminate or reduce exposure to hazards.
- Accident and incident investigation—Accidents and near misses are investigated and their causes prevented from happening again.
- Training—Employees learn safe work practices through classroom training and instruction.
- Evaluation—Business owners and managers evaluate their business safety goals at least yearly and use the evaluation to set new goals.
Roofing Company Fined $248,000 Following Worker’s Death and a Second Worker’s Head Injuries from Falls Through Unguarded Skylights
ANC Roofing has been convicted of two felony counts of violating California safety regulations which led to the death of one roofer and the permanent disability of another. The company was prosecuted following investigations into a May 11, 2006 fatality and a September 21, 2006 accident which occurred after two employees fell through unguarded skylights on separate job sites.
The May 11, 2006 accident occurred when employee Antonio Quezada Serrano backed into an unguarded skylight and fell 21 feet to his death while operating a felt laying machine on a roof of a commercial building in Rohnert Park, California. The investigation resulted in the issuance of a Cal/OSHA citation totaling $14,400 for not providing a barrier to prevent a fall through a skylight opening.
Four months later on September 21, 2006 a second employee, Jose Pina Maya, received major head trauma when he fell 19 feet from an unprotected skylight while installing plastic sheeting on a roof in Windsor, California. ANC supervisor Robert McAfee was present and working with the employee at the time. Two Cal/OSHA citations were issued, including one classified as willful, which bears proof of the employer knowing the violation existed and took no steps to correct it. The penalties assessed in this case totaled $70,000.
The second investigation concluded that ANC Roofing continued to operate in flagrant violation of the California Labor Code. The willful citation in this case was based upon the fact that the prior incident, investigation and issuance of citations put the employer on notice of the hazards associated with unprotected skylights and the health and safety requirement that they be guarded. The Division’s investigation revealed that both a supervisor and one of the owners of ANC were aware that work would be performed adjacent to the skylight, as well as knowledge of the previous incident, and yet no precautions were taken.
ANC Roofing owner Kenneth Hugh Alton of Santa Rosa entered a no contest plea to the charges of failing to protect employees from a hazard and was sentenced to 9 months in jail and ordered to pay $248,000 in fines and restitution. Also sentenced was company supervisor Robert Lawrence McAfee of Santa Rosa who pled no contest to a single misdemeanor violation and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Former ANC owner, Dale Charles, was charged with one misdemeanor and will appear for arraignment on May 18.
California law requires that employees be protected from a fall if they are working within six feet of a skylight.
OSHA Proposes Nearly $230,000 in Penalties Against Dehler Manufacturing Co.
OSHA has proposed $229,500 in fines against Dehler Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Chicago for alleged willful, serious, and repeat violations of federal workplace safety standards. As a result of a safety and health inspection, OSHA has cited the company for a willful violation with a proposed penalty of $49,500. The citation addresses the company’s alleged failure to protect workers from flying sparks while working in and around welding stations.
The company also has been issued citations for 14 serious violations with proposed penalties of $47,600. Some of the citations allege that the company failed to provide proper guard protection for rotating parts, failed to provide PPE such as safety glasses or protective lenses for protection against light radiation, and did not properly secure overhead portable spot welding equipment. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Dehler also has received 12 citations for repeat violations with a penalty of $132,400. Some of those alleged violations address aisles and passageways not being kept clear of obstructions; lockout and tagout procedures to prevent accidental energy start-up not being followed or training for those procedures not being provided for all employees; spot welding equipment not being inspected properly and electrical equipment not being maintained properly.
“Injuries and fatalities from accidents such as electrocution, amputation from improper guard protection and falls are preventable,” said Diane Turek, OSHA’s area director in Des Plaines, Illinois. “Employers must remain dedicated to keeping the workplace safe and healthful or face intense scrutiny by OSHA.”
Dehler Manufacturing, a fabricator of steel furniture for schools and private businesses, employs 180 workers, has been inspected five times by OSHA since 2000, and has received numerous citations from these past inspections.
OSHA Cites Miranda Roofing for Fall Hazard and Fall Protection Violations and Proposes More than $148,000 in Penalties
OSHA has cited Miranda Roofing of Omaha, Nebraska, for alleged safety violations and has proposed $148,400 in penalties against the company. OSHA cited the roofing company following an inspection that found employees exposed to fall hazards without fall protection. The inspection found two alleged willful, one alleged serious, and one alleged repeat violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
“There is no excuse for the lack of fall protection, and it’s outrageous to think that employers still allow employees to be exposed to fall hazards without ensuring fall protection is in use,” said Charles Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Missouri. “It is imperative that employers take the necessary steps to eliminate hazards and provide a safe working environment for all of their employees to prevent accidents from occurring.”
The alleged willful violations stem from the company’s failure to instruct workers in recognizing, avoiding, and eliminating unsafe conditions when they are exposed to falling to the next lower level and the lack of fall protection when workers are exposed to fall hazards. The alleged serious violation stems from the lack of instruction in the proper uses, placement, and care of portable ladders. The alleged repeat violation stems from improper placement of the portable ladder.
OSHA Proposes $66,500 in Fines for Food Packager after Worker Injured by Machinery
OSHA has cited Brady Enterprises Inc. for alleged willful, repeat, and serious violations of safety and health standards at its plant in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The food products packager faces $66,500 in proposed fines, following a November 14, 2008, accident in which an employee was caught in a labeling machine while cleaning it.
OSHA’s inspection found that the machine’s moving parts were not guarded against employee contact and that the machine’s power source had not been shut down and locked out prior to the cleaning. As a result, OSHA has issued the company one willful citation, with a proposed fine of $56,000, for not guarding the machine against employee contact, and one repeat citation, with a $3,000 fine, for not shutting down and locking out the machine. The repeat citation stemmed from a similar lockout/tagout hazard cited in October 2006 after an employee lost parts of two fingers in an accident from a month earlier.
OSHA has also issued the company four serious citations, with $7,500 in proposed fines, for lack of lockout/tagout training and hardware, no annual inspection of the plant’s hazardous energy control procedures, and use of an unapproved forklift in an area where flammable cocoa dust was present.
OSHA Cites Contractor for Willful and Serious Trench Safety Violations
OSHA is proposing one willful and four serious safety violations against B&H Contracting Inc. following an inspection at the company’s jobsite in Dothan, Alabama. OSHA is proposing $53,400 in penalties, including a $42,000 penalty for willfully allowing employees to work unprotected in a 12-foot-deep trench being dug for a new concrete sewer line.
Penalties of $11,400 are proposed for serious violations including: allowing employees to work in the trench without a safe means of access and egress, allowing spoil piles and equipment within two feet of the trench face, not removing employees from the trench where there was evidence that a hazard existed, and allowing employees to work in a trench while a concrete pipe was hoisted over their heads by an excavator.
“OSHA is putting a special emphasis on reducing the number of trenching and excavation injuries through increased inspections of construction sites,” said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA’s area director in Mobile, Alabama. “In this situation, rather than incorporating safety into the company’s normal routine, the onsite supervisor chose to ignore OSHA standards and endanger his employees’ lives just to save a little time.”