Repeat OSHA violation proves expensive for company
Here’s another example of why companies want to have clean OSHA records: Once an employer gets on the agency’s hit list, additional violations will be even more costly. Peach State Roofing of Rock...
View ArticleCompany inspected by OSHA 16 times, cited for 100+ violations
As a safety pro, you’ve probably heard this claim: Once you get on OSHA’s inspection list, it’s tough to get off of it. A Midwest company can attest to that. Certified Painting Co., Inc., of Alsip, IL,...
View ArticleOwner and manager sentenced to jail: 2 workers fell through skylights
The owner and a manager of a roofing company in Santa Rosa, CA, will both go to jail after a pair of incidents involving employee falls through skylights. One employee died, the other was permanently...
View ArticleWorker jury-rigs stool to reach light fixture, falls to his death
Next time you want to address proper ladder use and fall protection with workers, you might want to use this story about a man who fell to his death when he was trying to reach a light fixture. An OSHA...
View ArticleTop 10 safety violations for 2009
OSHA has released its preliminary list of the top 10 most frequent workplace safety violations for 2009. The number of violations in the top 10 increased almost 30% over the same time period in 2008....
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Employee misconduct or employer negligence?
When a worker doesn’t use PPE and dies on the job as a result, is the employer responsible or is it a case of employee misconduct? Here’s a recent example and how the case was decided. Skanska Koch...
View ArticleWorker suffers fatal fall: Was it unpreventable employee misconduct?
A worker falls to his death while upgrading a communication tower. An OSHA investigation showed that the worker had, for some reason, detached himself from his fall protection. Is the company at fault?...
View ArticleOSHA inspectors notice problems driving by; $225K fine
What triggers an OSHA inspection that leads to big fines: High injury rates? Employee complaints? For the construction industry, expensive fines are often the result of hazards being evident in broad...
View ArticleCompany ordered to pay $871K in OSHA fines for 2 fatalities
The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) has upheld an instance-by-instance OSHA fine involving the deaths of two Missouri construction company employees. OSHRC affirmed a total of...
View Article3 inspections later, company faces $735K in OSHA fines
Companies that OSHA places in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) can count on multiple safety inspections with accompanying large fines for infractions. That’s the situation involving U.S....
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OSHA to company: ‘You can run, but you can’t hide’
The Occupational Safety and Health Act allows OSHA to issue higher fines when a company has been cited previously for a similar penalty. A recent case defines when the agency can and can’t use that...
View Article2 business owners arrested for failure to pay OSHA fines
Authorities have arrested the former and current owner of a St. Louis, MO, business for failing to comply with court orders to pay more than a quarter of a million dollars in OSHA fines. The Eighth...
View ArticleOSHA ordered to pay company’s attorney fees for appeal of fine
How did a company successfully appeal a safety citation and get an administrative law judge (ALJ) to order OSHA to pay the employer’s attorney fees? An employee of Paramount Advance Wireless fell from...
View ArticleSpider-Man gets caught in OSHA’s web
In the comics, Spider-Man worked without fall protection. Actors in a new show based on the comic can’t do that, and four on-stage injuries have caught OSHA’s attention. OSHA has issued $12,600 in...
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Safety training: Owner, supervisor jailed for worker’s death
OSHA can’t send people responsible for workplace safety to jail. But they can refer cases to local prosecutors who are able to seek prison time. That’s what happened in this case, and now two men will...
View ArticleFall protection tangled in large drill; worker killed
A worker was killed after being spun around and mangled by a drilling rig at a construction project near Aspen, CO. The 39-year-old Minnesota man’s fall protection cord got tangled in the drill which...
View ArticleCompany will reinvent its safety program to settle OSHA fines
A company with 14 affiliates spread across the country has agreed to pay a $34,750 fine to settle OSHA citations. That doesn’t sound too bad for a big, nationwide construction company. But it’s only...
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Top 10 most frequently cited OSHA violations
What are OSHA inspectors targeting now? The agency has released its top 10 violations for fiscal year 2011. The Deputy Director for OSHA’s Directorate of Environmental Programs, Patrick Kapust,...
View ArticleOSHA inspector prevents potentially fatal fall from church steeple
Directions given by an OSHA inspector to workers prevented serious injury and perhaps even the death of one employee. In November, inspector Tony Nozzi found a roofing contractor’s employees and a...
View ArticleRepeat violations add up: $121K for fall protection violations
OSHA started this investigation after inspectors witnessed workers exposed to fall hazards at two commercial work sites in Wisconsin. The agency said a contracting company failed to train its workers....
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