OSHA fines over one-million dollars have become more common. But here’s one with a twist: It’s not for workplace hazards — it’s for recordkeeping violations.
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Tags: million-dollar fine, national emphasis program, Recordkeeping
OSHA has cited SeaWorld of Florida for three safety violations following the death of an animal trainer who was pulled under the water by a six-ton killer whale in Orlando.
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Tags: Dawn Brancheau, drowning, killer whale, SeaWorld, Tilikum
Sure, a $16.6 million OSHA fine sounds like a lot of money. But that might be only the tip of the iceberg in the case involving an explosion at a Kleen Energy construction site.
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Tags: explosion, federal lawsuit, Kleen Energy
A February explosion in Middletown, CT, that killed six workers, injured 50 others and ravaged an under-construction energy plant has prompted OSHA to issue its third-largest fine ever.
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Tags: cut corners, explosion, Kleen Energy, natural gas, third largest OSHA fine
While BP still works on cutting off the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico for good, another safety matter waits in the wings for the company: settling citations issued by OSHA for two of its refineries.
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Tags: BP, OSHA, Sen. Al Franken, Sen. Patty Murray, Texas City refinery
Two companies face more than a quarter-of-a-million dollars in fines in connection with an explosion that resulted from the combination of flammable vapors and welding.
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Tags: flammable vapors, welding, willful violation
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?
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Tags: fall protection, unpreventable employee misconduct, worker falls
Uh oh. An OSHA inspector shows up at your business. He uncovers a violation, and you don’t dispute it. How do you limit your company’s financial liability?
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Tags: excavation, lower OSHA fines, OSHRC, willful violation
It should come as no surprise to a company that it will face a retaliation complaint if it fires a whistleblower who complained to OSHA about workplace safety.
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As Wal-Mart fights an OSHA general duty clause (GDC) fine about retail crowds, the agency has issued another citation under the catch-all regulation involving workplace violence.
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Tags: General Duty Clause, health care, hospital, workplace violence
You’ve all heard the warnings: Let the professionals set off fireworks. The real dangers of these explosives become apparent when even the pros have problems.
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Tags: burns, fireworks, skin grafts
OSHA is going postal. No, not like that.
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Tags: inspections, lockout/tagout, OSHA, OSHA fines, PPE
When federal OSHA announced a crackdown on state-run safety agencies, it said many of them were issuing fines that didn’t serve as deterrents to companies. Now it appears at least one state has heard that message loud and clear.
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Tags: hand injury, ignored warnings, record fine, state-run safety agencies
OSHA has fined a Belvedere, IL, company $510,000 in connection with a December 2009 explosion that killed a bystander.
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Tags: bystander killed, explosion, NDK Crystals, willful violations
A South Dakota company now faces $1.61 million in citations.
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Tags: confined spaces, engulfed and smothered, Fatality, million-dollar fine, South Dakota Wheat Growers
Seven-figure OSHA fines are becoming more common, especially in cases when the agency believes the company acted with willful disregard to safety.
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As part of its recent “get tough” stance, OSHA has promised to go after companies with previous violations and to re-emphasize health inspections. This case covers both bases.
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Tags: health hazards, lead, repeat offenders
Workplace cameras captured a practice used by several workers at a Cintas laundry facility in Tulsa, OK: They’d climb onto large conveyors to dislodge stuck piles of clothing going into industrial dryers. One camera also recorded Eleazar Torres Gomez as he was pulled into one of the dryers — an incident that led to his death.
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Tags: Cintas, David Michaels, dramatic video, incentive programs, pulled into dryer
A subcontractor faces an OSHA fine in connection with an incident on the roof of the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium that seriously injured two workers.
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Here’s a story you can share with employees and supervisors about why lockout/tagout is so important:
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Lack of machine guarding and dangling hair: a combination that can lead to painful injuries.
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Tags: machine guarded, unprotected rotating shaft, worker scalped
“Unscrupulous employers often consider it more cost effective to pay the minimal OSHA penalty and continue to operate an unsafe workplace than to correct the underlying health and safety problem. The current penalties do not provide an adequate deterrent.”
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Tags: David Michaels, death of an employee, OSHA penalty, prison time, Protecting America's Workers Act
A crane operator who crashed into a 105-foot light pole that killed a worker didn’t receive proper training, according to OSHA.
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At least one state made good on threats to fine healthcare facilities if they didn’t protect their employees by following H1N1 flu standards.
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Tags: DOSH, H1N1, healthcare, respirators, swine flu
In the first year of the Obama administration, OSHA was busy handing out fines the likes of which hadn’t been seen for eight years. Here’s our rundown of 10 significant fines from the last 12 months, and what they mean for businesses:
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Tags: BP, Obama administration, OSHA fines, prison time, top 10
OSHA has issued several citations to the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Oregon in connection with an incident in which an employee was killed by a falling tree.
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Tags: goggles, hard hat, helicopter, killed by falling tree
Criminal prosecution of companies where safety violations cause serious injuries or fatalities are rare in the U.S. With that in mind, it’s interesting to note how such cases are handled in another democracy.
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Tags: Australia, criminal prosecution, serious injury or death
ConAgra Foods has reached a settlement with the North Carolina Department of Labor regarding the explosion at a Slim Jim factory last year that killed four workers and injured about 70 others.
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Tags: ConAgra, explosion, Slim Jim plant
Two companies face fines for a fatality in which an employee fell into a vat of melting chocolate.
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Tags: dies in vat of chocolate, Falls, floor openings, railing
OSHA has dropped a proposed fine against an electrical company in Savannah, GA, after company officials met with the agency.
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Tags: cherry-picker, crushed to death, OSHA drops fine, Safety training
It’s no secret: Companies hardly ever pay fine amounts that OSHA initially issues. Sometimes, the amounts are reduced significantly. Is that about to change?
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Tags: Jordan Barab, OSHA penalty reductions, violation abatement
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?
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Tags: employee misconduct, fall protection, PPE
Almost one year after a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by “Black Friday” shoppers, OSHA has issued crowd control guidelines for retailers. And Wal-Mart contested the fine associated with the case.
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Tags: crowd control, trampling death, Wal-Mart
A seafood processing plant faces $66,800 in OSHA fines after a worker was crushed to death in an ice machine.
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Tags: crushed in ice machine, lock out, power down
OSHA has proposed $87.43 million in fines against BP for the company’s failure to correct hazards uncovered after the 2005 explosion at its Texas City, TX, plant that killed 15 people and injured 170 others.
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Tags: 2005 explosion, BP, largest OSHA fine, Texas City plant
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