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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued out $229,000 in fines to two companies in connection with a July 2010 explosion that killed two welders. Northeast Energy Management Inc. of Indiana, Pa. and Huntley and Huntley Inc. of Monroeville, Pa. are the two companies. The incident occurred at the Murry Heirs #6 well site owned by Huntley in Cheswick. The two men were workers from Northeast Energy. Huntley and Huntley had contracted Northeast Energy to repair a leaking barrel tank at the well site. The former was responsible for making sure that Northeast Energy had properly trained its workers on safe welding procedures. In a press release, OSHA said, “These companies did not ensure that proper welding procedures were followed resulting in this tragic loss of life”. Robert Szymanski, the director of OSHA's Pittsburgh area office, said, “OSHA remains committed to holding employers legally responsible when they fail to adhere to federal law and compromise the sa...

Recently, an electrical worker was critically injured whereas his co-worker died after they fell 30 feet from a scaffolding setup at a Howard paper company. Al Klimek, the Brown County Medical Examiner said that, “Michael M. Leroy, 41, of Appleton, who worked for Faith Technologies, was killed in the accident, while the other worker is in stable condition”. The Chief Deputy of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, John Gossage said that, “The accident was reported about 7 a.m. Leroy and his co-worker apparently fell from a “scissors-type”. On the other hand, the president of Hattiesburg Paper, Greg Santaga, prepared a statement that revealed that, “The men were performing routine electrical maintenance at the facility at the time of the incident.” He went on to say that, “Faith Technologies and Hattiesburg Paper are committed to providing a safe work environment and are deeply saddened by the tragedy of this incident. We are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayer...

Amtec Corporation, a contractor at the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command has been cited for safety violations that resulted in an explosion killing two of their employees. Earlier this year, in May, two workers suffered third degree burns in an explosion that was caused due to n-Butanol and ammonium perchlorate. The workers were trying to purify ammonium perchlorate by separating it from a mixture containing n-Butanol. During this process, an explosion occurred killing both the workers. OSHA's area director, Roberto Sanchez, said, “Management knew the hazards associated with ammonium perchlorate recovery and failed to ensure the proper equipment was being used, while also allowing the workers to process the material in excess of 10 times the amount of explosives according to the Army's standard operating procedures”. OSHA has cited the corporation with two willful violations for exposing their employees to explosive hazards and fire and also not testing the suit...

Recently, a thirteen page letter was sent by the PETA Foundation's general counsel to the Director of the Toledo Area Office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Jule Hovi, urging her to penalize the former animal exhibitor, Mr. Sam Mazzola, for completely failing to protect his employees and workers from recognized hazards. The general counsel has also asked her to take immediate action against him, in order to prevent any future attacks. On August 20th, Brent Kandra, was killed by a 500 pound bear. But Mr. Mazzola came under PETA's radar, for he continued to allow kandra to come into direct contact with the bear, despite knowing the dangers. Hence, this fatality could have been avoided. Debbie Leahy, PETA's Director, has said that, "Confined to cramped cages and denied everything that's natural and important to them, including any semblance of a life, these bears become ticking time bombs," she further went on to say that, "Mazzola must...

The United States, Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined the Fountainhead Group with a total sum of $83,650. These penalties are a result of nearly, three dozen violations, of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act. In accordance with the Department of Labor's OSHA, this pest control manufacturing company primarily failed to provide safe access to elevated work locations and to maintain safety devices on heavy machinery. The three dozen safety violations, were ranked serious, which in turn meant that they could cause serious physical harm and even death, if the problems were not immediately remedied. This further meant that the employer was completely aware of the existing conditions. The director of OSHA’s Syracuse office, Christopher Adams, said that, “This inspection identified a broad cross-section of hazards, which – if uncorrected – expose employees to potential falls, electric shock, crushing, burns or machinery injuries”, he went on to say that, “...

The United States, Department of Labor's, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), has penalized the Heartland Refinery in Columbus, Ohio, for allegedly committing one serious safety violation, that is failing to control the release of vapors and flammable liquids, that in turn resulted in the July 17, 2010, fire at the facility. Furthermore, the refinery has also been penalized for two repeat safety violations, that were not corrected. These penalties, have mounted up to a total sum of $68,900. Deborah Zubaty, the OSHA Director of Columbus, said that,"Failing to follow proper procedures to prevent the unintentional release of flammable vapors and liquids in an area where a known ignition source exists creates a serious safety risk to workers, and as this case shows, a high risk of fire in the workplace," she further went on to say that,"There is no excuse for this type of complacency, and OSHA will do all it can to protect employees in the workplace....

The United States, Department of Labor's, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), has penalized, The McDuffie Box Co. Inc. in Thomson, for serious safety violations. According to the press release that was issued by this government regulatory agency, the Box company has been fined, a total sum of $47,550. As usual, like every other company that's come under OSHA's wrath, this company has 15 business days to either comply with or contest these findings in front of an independent OSHa Review Commission. However, when the McDuffie Mirror, contacted McDuffie Box Company's owner, Chris Mercer, he said that he did not wish to comment on this subject. His exact statement was, "It's still pending, and I have no comment to make until it's closed." Furthermore, the director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office, Bill Fulcher, said that, "This injury could have been prevented if the employer implemented OSHA standards for lockout/tagout proced...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has penalized the Dave Shaw Concrete & Block company, for allegedly committing several safety violations, after a worker was killed and buried at a large building that was under construction near South Park in Hermosa. The fines have mounted up to a total sum of $128,945. Shaw stated that he would be appealing the fine. He even called the fatal mishap a “terrible accident.” but he did say that OSHA's conclusions were inaccurate in some areas and this in turn has painted a misleading picture. Alejandro Valladares, was just 29 years old, when he plunged head-first into a hole in the ground. The Cal-OSHA investigators found that the company endangered Valladares, when they placed him on a wooden platform. Furthermore, the hole he had fallen into was not properly covered or otherwise protected. With regards to the open hole, Shaw had this to say, “ You have to uncover the hole to pour concrete.” Krisann Chasarik, a spokeswoman for ...

Yes! What you have heard is true. OSHA has fined, Whitesell Corporation a total sum of $3,071,500. The investigation concluded that Whitesell had committed a staggering number of safety and health violations, 72 to be exact. Primarily, workers and employees were exposed to several amputation hazards. The Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, released a statement, which stated that,“Whitesell willfully tampered with the safety mechanisms of its hydraulic forging presses at its Tuscumbia plant to speed up production, resulting in the amputation of a worker’s hand.” Mr. David Michaels, the assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, even said that, “This employer knowingly exposed these workers to serious injuries,” he further went on to say that, “The objective of OSHA’s actions today is to save the hands, and perhaps the lives, of other workers in the future.” These “willful” safety and health violations, arose from the plant’s failure to utilize, develop and implement tag out procedures, when di...

The contractor that has been conducting the sanitary sewer project in Reading Township, need fret no more, for he has been given a clean bill of safety and health from the U.S, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The director for OSHA's North Aurora area office, Kathy Webb, announced that, the OSHA inspectors could find no safety violations with regards to this particular project. She even said that, “Whenever we do a trench inspection, we check for everything. She even told the Times that, “"When we go out to a site, we observe what we see on the day of the inspection. If someone sends us a photograph, we can't use those. We use what we see." But it is also important to note that, Webb said that, she would forward those findings to the Peoria office for future inspections. According to Kathy Webb, the OSHA investigators found construction workers lowering boring sheets and sewer pumps in to a boring containment. After the boring sheets and pump were...

The ammonia leak sent 130 people who were living in the vicinity to hospitals. Unfortunately, they were not warned for at least 45 minutes after it was detected. Thus, this very delay has increased the risk to their safety. In turn, these safety violations have alerted the OSHA investigators. Federal regulators have already started investigating the devastating effects of this time lag. However, the emergency and company officials said that they acted as quickly as they could. Present below are a list of statements given by the local residents. These statements just highlight the very fact that the response action was just not initiated fast enough: Mr. Charles Adams said that,“The alarms finally went off, but there were a lot of people who were hurt before they did.” Mr. John Ponder commented that,“There should have been an alarm that went off two minutes after that leak happened. Two minutes is too long.” This leak has come under OSHA's radar. For instance, Mr. Kurt Petermeyer, t...

The U.S. OSHA, has finally announced, that it has penalized SeaWorld for committing serious safety violations. This devastating blow has come, just months after, marine mammal trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed in an incident, involving a 12,000-pound orca named Tilikum. More specifically, OSHA, has found 3 safety violations, that are now being categorized as “willful”, for primarily failing to protect employees from, struck-by and drowning hazards. The first “serious citation” was for failing to install a stairway railing system, where as the other “lesser- than serious citation” was, for failing to place, weatherproof enclosures over outdoor electrical outlets in the stadium. Overall, SeaWorld, has been slapped with a total fine of $75,000. With regards to these safety violations, SeaWorld stated that those findings were “enfounded”. They further,went on to say that,"OSHA's allegations in this citation are unsupported by any evidence or precedent and reflect a fundamental l...

Recently, OSHA announced that it had found the United States Postal Service’s Dayton processing center guilty of serious and willful safety violations involving equipment and electrical hazards. Due to its recklessness, the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has levied fines of $225,000 against the Main Post Office. An OSHA spokesman, Mr. Scott Allen of Chicago said that in April, three “willful” safety violations were found. They were: Workers weren’t properly trained on electrical equipment usage. They weren’t provided with protective gear for their hands, face and extremities. They were also exposed to live electrical parts. Regarding these violations, Mr. Allen said that a willful violation can be defined as the, “Intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.” He went on to say that, “When someone does something willfully, we hammer them pretty good.” Furthermore, OSHA also u...

The Cooperative Plus Inc, a farmer-owned cooperative, must be very familiar with OSHA's wrath by now. For it has been just a few months since it was slapped with a fine of $721,000 after an employee was seriously injured from nearly being engulfed by soybeans at the cooperative's Burlington, Wisconsin facility. Currently, it faces a penalty of nearly $374,500, for being guilty of committing 25 safety violations at 2 particular grain facilities situated at Whitewater and Genoa City. Regarding this matter, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, Dr. David Michaels said that, “This continued non-compliance with long established safety standards for working in grain handling operations by Cooperative Plus Inc. shows a complete disregard for worker safety,". He further went on to say that,"All workers have the right to work in a safe environment and the Labor Department will use all legal means necessary to ensure companies comply with established safety requirements....