Oct. 19, 2015 Ashley Furniture cited again for on-the-job machine hazards OSHA proposes $431K in fines for safety hazards at Whitehall, Wisconsin, facilityWHITEHALL, Wis. – Ashley Furniture, the nation’s largest retailer of home decor, faces $431,000 in proposed federal safety and health fines for failing to protect workers from moving machine parts at its Whitehall …
Tag: OSHA Citations
OSHA Updates Inspections Manual: What it Means for Employers
This updated document is for OSHA inspectors, but it can provide a lot of info to businesses, too. As of Oct. 1, 2015, OSHA inspectors are following a new Field Operations Manual (FOM). Its purpose, as laid out on the manual’s cover page: “To provide OSHA offices, State Plan programs and federal agencies with policy …
Fewer OSHA Inspections – But More Impact?
Calling it his “big announcement” at the National Safety Council’s annual conference and expo, OSHA administrator David Michaels said the agency is moving to a new enforcement system that will shift inspection resources toward more complex hazards. The Enforcement Weighting Initiative (EWI) will give area OSHA offices within the federal system “credit” for conducting inspections …
Lifefleet LLC faces more than $235K in fines for 14 health violations after OSHA inspection
U.S. Department of Labor | August 11, 2015 Emergency medical transport company ignores health precautions, ambulance workers unprotected from risks of infection and disease Lifefleet LLC faces more than $235K in fines for 14 health violations after OSHA inspectionNORTH LIMA, Ohio – Emergency ambulance workers must concern themselves first with the needs of the people …
$260K penalty after disciplining worker for reporting injury
Federal officials have levied the largest penalty of its kind against an employer following an investigation that showed the company taking action against an employee who reported a workplace injury. The Metro-North Commuter Railroad, based in Hartford, CT, has been ordered to pay the employee $250,000 in punitive damages, $10,000 in compensatory damages and “reasonable …
Only $3,000 payout for a man’s death
The family of a 20-year-old man who was killed on a construction site has proposed legislation for a mandatory fine when an employee is killed on the job. “He was priceless, and $3,000 doesn’t do s—,” said the man’s stepbrother. Brett Collins was killed in Sheridan, WY, two years ago. He was struck in the …
Whopping $816k OSHA Fine For Company That Provided False Documentation
Want to see a five-figure OSHA fine balloon into a six-figure one? This company did after it violated the terms of a settlement agreement, according to the agency. OSHA has fined Formed Fiber Technologies LLC of Sidney, Ohio, $816,500 for 14 citations including providing false documentation and making false representations about abatement of previous violations. OSHA …
15 dead, 300 injured: Why was OSHA fine only $118K?
A Texas newspaper takes a look at how the $118,300 OSHA fine for the West Fertilizer explosion stacks up against those for other catastrophic workplace incidents. Its conclusion: OSHA fines aren’t proportional to loss of life. The Dallas Morning News analyzed OSHA’s 56,800 inspections since 2001. The paper noted the West, Texas, explosion that killed …
Top 5 Compliance Issues OSHA Will Focus In For Remainder Of 2013
An industry contact recently asked me what five issues I expected OSHA would be focusing its enforcement efforts on for the balance of this year. Here was my response: 1. Emergency Exits & Exit Routes – A couple of months ago, OSHA issued an enforcement memorandum directing inspectors to scrutinize whether employers were providing and …