On Nov. 28, 2008, Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death at Wal-Mart’s Valley Stream, NY, store as 2,000 shoppers surged inside for its annual day-after-Thanksgiving sale.

OSHA issued Wal-Mart a $7,000 fine under the General Duty Clause. The federal safety agency says employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd due to the store’s failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management.

Wal-Mart contested the fine, and the case will be heard before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The giant retailer agreed to pay nearly $2 million and improve safety at its 92 New York stores as part of a deal with local prosecutors. Wal-Mart set up a $400,000 victims compensation and remuneration fund and gave $1.5 million to local social service programs and nonprofit groups.

To prevent similar incidents, OSHA recommends retailers:

• have trained security personnel or police officers on site
• set up barricades or rope lines for pedestrians and crowd control well in advance of customers’ arrival
• make sure barricades are set up so the customers’ line doesn’t start right at the store entrance
• prepare an emergency plan that addresses potential dangers, and
• have security or customer service personnel explain entrance procedures to the public.

OSHA’s full list of crowd control guidelines is available here (PDF).

Joseph Teixeira was killed at the Northern Wind facility in New Bedford, MA, while performing maintenance work inside a large, industrial, ice-making machine.

The machine was activated while Teixeira was inside, and he was caught in the moving parts. An autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxiation because of chest compression.

OSHA found that the plant lacked procedures to power down and lock out the ice machine before employees entered it.

Northern Wind faces 19 serious and 4 other-than-serious citations. It has 15 days to contest the fines.

The previous largest penalty was also against BP after the Texas City explosion. BP signed a settlement with OSHA and agreed to pay $21 million in fines.

As part of the settlement, BP also agreed to correct violations at the plant. OSHA claims it hasn’t. It’s issued 270 citations for failure-to-abate previous violations. That totals $556.7 million in fines at a rate of $7,000 per fine times 30 days.

OSHA also found 439 new willful violations, totaling $30.7 million.

Since the 2005 incident, four more fatalities have occurred at the Texas City facility.

The New York Times reports that, in the 30 years before the 2005 explosion, there were 23 deaths at the Texas City refinery.

“The $87 million fine won’t restore those [15] lives, but we can’t let this happen again,” said U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

“BP was given four years to correct the safety issues identified pursuant to the settlement agreement, yet OSHA has found hundreds of violations of the agreement and hundreds of new violations,” said acting OSHA administrator Jordan Barab.

Since the explosion, BP has settled more than 4,000 civil claims, paid from a $2.1 billion fund it set aside.

The BP refinery is the third largest in the country.

Do you think this large fine is justified against BP? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

You can also take our Quick Poll on the subject on our home page.

The number of violations in the top 10 increased almost 30% over the same time period in 2008.

The violations are:

1. Scaffolding: 9,093
2. Fall protection: 6,771
3. Hazard communication: 6,378
4. Respiratory protection: 3,803
5. Lockout/tagout: 3,321
6. Electrical (wiring): 3,079
7. Ladders: 3,072
8. Powered industrial trucks (forklifts): 2,993
9. Electrical: 2,556
10. Machine guarding: 2,364.

OSHA will update these numbers later in 2009. The preliminary list was released at the National Safety Council’s annual congress.

The agency has cited Sealcoating, Inc., of Hingham, MA, for $38,100 in violations after a nighttime inspection on its bridge restoration work.

The contractor was cited for 11 alleged repeat and serious violations as part of OSHA’s Boston North Area Office’s efforts to inspect construction projects where silica is generated.

“Employers should not assume that OSHA will not conduct inspections because much of their work is done at night,” said Paul Mangiafico, an OSHA area director.

Among the citations:

• employees exposed to excess silica levels while jack hammering concrete
• no controls to lower exposure levels
• failure to evaluate employees’ exposure levels
• inadequate respirator protection program and training, and
• no fit-testing of respirators.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to appeal the citations.

The Pearl Room in Bay Ridge, NY, was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division because the teenager was working in violation of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The teen was killed when he tried to stop a rolling minivan from hitting another parked car.

Police say the teen had hopped out of the vehicle without putting it in park.

When the van started rolling backwards, he ran behind it and tried to stop it from moving. But the force of the van threw him backward, pinning him against another vehicle.

The FLSA prohibits 17-year-old workers from driving vehicles after sunset as part of their jobs.

The $50,000 penalty is the maximum allowed under a recent amendment to the FLSA. The $604 was for the employer’s failure to record the young worker’s date of birth.

OSHA had investigated this case and referred it to the Wage and Hour Division.

In April, Charles Sittig was killed at the CES Environmental Services facility in Port Arthur, TX.

Three men have died at CES plants since December 2008.

OSHA cited the company for 34 violations, including a willful citation for failure to establish a rescue team capable of assisting a worker who becomes incapacitated while cleaning out chemicals tanks.

Other citations include raised platforms without railings, poorly maintained ladders and failure to develop decontamination procedures.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to contest the citations.

Two workers died recently at CES’ Houston plant. In December 2008, one worker died in an explosion that sent metal debris into nearby properties. In July 2009, a CES employee died when an explosion and flash fire at the Houston plant knocked him from the top of a mobile tank he was filling with water. OSHA is still investigating that death.

The rule has been in effect since Jan. 12, 2009, and OSHA has already used it.

OSHA has said it intends to use these new measures only in egregious cases in which employers showed a clear disregard for issuing PPE to employees. However, the standard doesn’t spell out that it’s only for use in severe cases.

The National Association of Manufacturers points out that a $7,000 fine for lack of or incorrect PPE could turn into a $700,000 penalty if 100 employees within a facility are required to wear that type of PPE.

Arguments in the case are expected to begin in November.

Do you think OSHA should be able to fine companies, per employee, for PPE violations? If so, under what circumstances? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Here’s what happened: A Home Depot employee in Houston was found lying under a truck in the store’s parking lot. The worker’s job was to gather shopping carts in the lot and help customers load packages into their cars. The worker didn’t have any visible injuries. Other employees said the man was incoherent, lying on the ground and moving, while putting his hands behind his head.

He was taken to the hospital where he died two days later. An autopsy said the cause of death was “blunt head trauma with subdural hematoma and brain contusions.”

OSHA investigated. It issued just one other-than-serious citation for the company’s failure to report the employee’s death to OSHA within eight hours of occurrence.

Home Depot appealed. An administrative law judge upheld the $1,000 OSHA fine. The judge said, “the evidence suggested that the employee fell in the Home Depot parking lot, sustaining the head injuries to which he eventually succumbed.”

Home Depot also appealed that decision. This time, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission threw out the citation. Reason: The judge’s finding that the employee fell in the store’s parking lot wasn’t supported by a preponderance of the evidence. The Commission said it was speculation that he fell and hit his head in the parking lot.

OSHA has 60 days to decide if it wants to appeal the Commission’s ruling.

What do you think about the Commission’s ruling? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Cite: Secretary of Labor v. Home Depot, OSHRC Docket No. 07-0359, 9/16/09. (PDF)

Clearwater Management, Inc., dba Splash Handwash, faces $62,500 in fines after an employee was injured at the company’s Fairfield, CT, carwash.

The worker suffered foot and ankle injuries after he became caught in an unguarded opening on the operating conveyor track that moves vehicles through the carwash.

OSHA issued 11 serious citations, including:

• an unguarded conveyor opening
• uncovered electrical outlets in wet areas
• misused extension cords
• a locked emergency exit, and
• lack of an emergency eyewash for employees working with corrosive cleaners.

The company also faces three repeat citations for lack of eye and face protection for a worker spraying chemical cleaners and for not training workers on chemical hazards and required PPE.

This case is another example of OSHA extending its use of repeat citations to cover violations at different locations owned by the same company. OSHA had cited the company for similar hazards at two of its other carwash locations.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to contest the citations.

Toys R Us faces $69,000 in fines for 10 violations at one of its stores in Brooklyn, NY.

OSHA’s inspection found hazards that could impede employees’ exit during a fire or other emergency. These included:

• obstructed exit access
• missing or defective exit doors
• an exit door that was painted over and couldn’t be opened
• improper or inadequate exit signage
• employees not trained in fire extinguisher use, and
• all fire extinguishers not kept in their required locations.

OSHA also cited the company for other violations, including damaged storage racks that were prone to collapse.

Three of the citations, for the obstructed exit route, blocked aisle and damaged storage racks, were categorized as repeat and came with $50,000 in fines. But the Brooklyn store wasn’t fined for these problems before.

OSHA had cited Toys R Us stores in Ohio and New Jersey for similar hazards, and that triggered the more expensive repeat citations. The other seven violations were categorized as serious for a total of $19,000 in fines.

OSHA has cited Stavis Seafoods with 15 serious violations at its Boston facility. The company faces $47,250 in fines.

PSM requires employers to proactively assess and address hazards associated with processes and equipment that use large amounts of hazardous chemicals. In this case, the chemical is anhydrous ammonia used in the facility’s refrigeration system.

Among the violations:

• initial evaluation of hazards associated with the refrigeration system hadn’t been conducted
• lack of written procedures covering process changes or to maintain ongoing mechanical integrity of equipment
• process safety information hadn’t been updated to reflect changes
• PSM program wasn’t audited every three years, and
• employee maintaining refrigeration system hadn’t received annual emergency response training and respirator fit testing.

The company has 15 business days to decide whether to contest any of the citations.

That’s what happened to Sims Bark Co. and Sims Stone Co. in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.

OSHA received a complaint about safety at one of Sims’ locations and determined that similar hazards might exist at its other locations.

Result: $576,750 in OSHA fines after inspectors visited six Sims facilities.

Willful citations were issued for:

• allowing workers to service, unjam and clean machinery without procedures to ensure they wouldn’t be caught in or struck by equipment or burned by machines’ heat strips, and
• exposing workers to dangers associated with being caught in fast moving machinery.

OSHA issued serious citations for:

• lack of employee training
• exposure to electric shocks
• lack of fall protection
• lack of machine guards
• exposure to noise hazards
• struck-by dangers, and
• accumulation of combustible dust.

Sims also faces other-than-serious citations for failing to keep injury/illness logs according to OSHA rules.

The company has 15 business days to comply with or contest the citations.

Thedford Construction Co., Inc., faces $133,000 in OSHA fines in connection with the Feb. 18, 2009, death of 21-year-old Hector Moran.

An underground power line was damaged while the company was digging in front of a pad-mounted transformer.

Moran, a Hispanic employee of Thedford, was unaware and uninformed that the power line was energized and began repairing the line. That’s when he was electrocuted.

OSHA’s investigation revealed that Moran was wearing a glove with a hole in the index finger that hadn’t been tested for insulation qualities.

“All workers, regardless of whether or not they speak English, deserve a safe workplace,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s area director in Dallas.

OSHA cited Thedford for two willful violations for failing to electrically test rubbed-insulated gloves at least every six months and failing to ensure that workers don’t come within two feet of energized electrical equipment.

The company also faces 10 serious violations, including failing to:

• train workers on the dangers of electrical hazards
• provide prompt medical treatment in the event of serious injuries
• issue a valid certificate to an employee to perform first-aid treatment
• provide PPE, and
• determine the exact location of underground installations.

Thedford has 15 days to accept or challenge the citations.

Dan Kavanaugh, vice president and general manager with Turner Construction Co. in Oregon, told the Daily Journal of Commerce, “Money is not the motivator. A fine doesn’t mean anything to us.”

Dan Johnson, vice president of operations for Sakanska USA, agrees. “If they raised fines, would that become a motivation? I’m thinking ‘no.’”

However, Johnson says higher fines could be big financial hits for small and mid-sized construction companies.

Oregon OSHA administrator Michael Wood realizes that the fines he’s proposing still wouldn’t have a significant impact on the largest companies.

Wood is considering setting the cap for the most severe violations at $7,000. Now, it’s $5,000.

When a state OSHA inspects a company after a fatality, even the $5,000 fines can add up.

Recently, Oregon OSHA announced penalties totaling $90,000 against ConAgra Foods and a company performing repairs at a ConAgra plant in connection with an incident in which a welder was killed.

Wood acknowledges that ConAgra’s portion of the fine, $65,000, won’t be a big hit for such a large company. Besides raising fines, he’s considering a sliding scale based on company size.

Do you think OSHA fines are real motivation for companies to improve their safety? Is it different for larger vs. smaller companies? Should fines be higher for larger companies? Let me know in the Comments Box below.

That’s what happened when it recently issued citations against Sinton Dairy Foods Co. of Englewood, CO. OSHA issued one willful violation to the company for failure to follow an established preventive maintenance program for an anhydrous ammonia refrigeration system.

OSHA also issued serious violations concerning electrical hazards and mechanical integrity procedures for ammonia systems.

Total fine: $50,575.

Sinton has 15 days to comply, request a conference with OSHA or contest the fines.

And the case hasn’t been settled.

The fact that the appeal is dragging on is significant.  But how it turns out may be even more significant.

When the fine was announced, company CEO John Sheptor said he hoped the whole thing would be settled “in a few weeks,” according to an article in the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle.

In the same article, plantiffs lawyer Mark Tate explains why that hasn’t happened: “(OSHA’s) pressing its case as doggedly as private lawyers would. Proposed OSHA fines used to get settled for pennies on the dollar. But not this time.”

This chart, posted by probublica.org, lends credence to the “pennies on the dollar” comment. Many of OSHA’s largest proposed fines eventually withered into small fractions of their original figures.

Does this mean OSHA is now overreaching? Or is developing a bite that matches its bark long overdue? Let us know what you think in the Comment Box below.

We polled our editors of safety publications at Progressive Business and came up with this list:

10. More research on dangers of nano-particles to exposed employees. Among the new studies, one that showed long, thin carbon nanotubes exhibited the same effects as long, thin asbestos fibers when injected into mice.

9. The National Institutes of Health says the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is no longer limited to hospitals. Outbreaks of one strain — community-associated MRSA — have turned up in athletes, prison inmates, the military, daycare attendees and those who live in communal conditions such as college dormitories.

8. MSHA proposes and enacts a flurry of new mining rules in the wake of previous years’ mining disasters, such as Crandall Canyon, including: a policy letter on underground communication and tracking devices; a new final rule that increases the pounds per square inch that pressure seals must withstand in an explosion; a proposal to test miners for drugs and alcohol; and a final rule requiring additional safety equipment for rescue teams at underground mines.

7. California gets serious with heat stress on the job. The company that hired a pregnant teen who died of heat stroke this spring after working in a vineyard without enough shade or water was hit with the highest fine ever issued to a farming operation in the state. Merced Farm Labor’s license was also revoked until Aug. 24, 2011 after the death of Maria Jimenez.

6. The employer payment for most types of PPE rule takes effect. OSHA started enforcing the new rule May 15, 2008. The only exceptions: non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear; shoes or boots with built-in metatarsal protection requested by an employee; logging boots; and everyday work or ordinary clothing used solely for protection from weather.

5. An explosion at an Imperial Sugar Refinery near Savannah, GA, kills 14 people and injures dozens more. The blast destroyed a packaging plant. The cause, ignition of dust, placed an emphasis on workplace ignitable dust hazards.

4. Amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act to place burden on employers. The revision may dramatically increase the number of employees who can legally qualify as disabled. Action step for employers and those in charge of safety: Instead of an open-ended light-duty assignment that might define a worker as disabled, re-assess the returning worker’s condition every two weeks.

3. Distracted drivers prove fatal and costly. A Sept. 12 collision between two trains in California killed 25 people. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating, but preliminary information shows the locomotive engineer of one train was using his cell phone to text within 30 seconds of the accident. In the wake of the crash, the Federal Railroad Administration enacted a new rule banning railroad employees from using cell phones (except in emergencies) and other electronic devices on the job. In another case, International Paper Co. agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle a personal injury lawsuit after one of its employees used her cell phone while driving for work. The employee hit another car, and its driver had to have an arm amputated as a result.

2. Now OSHA can multiply PPE and training fines by the number of employees. Under a new rule, OSHA can issue per-employee citations for those types of violations starting Jan. 12, 2009.

1. President-elect Barack Obama promises an “invigorated” OSHA. Obama supported the Protecting America’s Workers Act as a Senator. The bill would increase OSHA penalties. Obama has also called on OSHA to issue standards “in a timely and more effective manner.” While the financial crisis may delay some reforms the new administration may want, some changes can be made by just shifting existing funding.

Vote for your top safety story or nominate one of your own in the Comments Box below.

Explosions at the plant killed 14 people and injured many more.

Interviews conducted by OSHA with plant workers uncovered the alleged lack of training, according to The Savannah Morning News.

OSHA is seeking $8.8 million in fines for alleged safety violations at two Imperial plants. Imperial is appealing.

About 40 workers said they didn’t receive training on how to get out of the building in an emergency. Only about 30 people said they were shown how to leave.

Just 5 people ever recalled a fire drill at the plant.

Former corporate safety manager Michael Lastie said in a sworn statement that the company lacked a document that “clearly spelled out … the roles and responsibilities of the first responder team.”

Creating such a document was a recommendation made to the company after a 2004 safety evaluation.

Imperial also faces lawsuits from victims’ families.

If you guessed the Casino Control Board fine, you’re right. It’s actually 2.75 times larger than the OSHA fine.

That’s the comparison made in a Las Vegas Sun article. Earlier this year, the Sun won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its investigation of construction deaths on the Las Vegas strip.

Two years ago, two workers died and a third was seriously injured in a maintenance accident at the Orleans casino. After negotiations, the Orleans settled the case for $184,000.

Recently, the Gaming Control Board fined Planet Hollywood $500,000 for problems at its nightclub including underage drinking, leaving dangerously drunk patrons unattended, drug use, and physical and sexual assault of patrons by nightclub employees.

Casinos regularly agree to pay the fines the board issues rather than allowing the board to prosecute the cases.

On the other hand, companies almost always get OSHA penalties lowered through appeals. Sometimes citations are thrown out altogether.

The average OSHA fine for a serious violation in Nevada is $1,400. Federal OSHA’s average serious fine is between $900 and $1,000.

Do you think OSHA fines need to be increased? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

Ameriwood Industries, Inc., in Tiffin, OH, faces $108,700 in OSHA fines as the result of a January inspection. The company has 15 days from receipt of the citations to challenge them.

OSHA issued six repeat and six serious citations, including failure to:

• install and maintain spark detection and suppression equipment in dust collectors, and
• ensure workers were adequately protected when maintaining electrical equipment.

OSHA said the inspection came as a result of a complaint from an employee and the agency’s inspection emphasis program on combustible dust hazards, according to The Toledo Blade.

Ameriwood’s Tiffin facility has been inspected five times in 14 years and has been cited 35 times during that same period.

You can read more about OSHA’s inspection emphasis program on combustible dust here.

Between October 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009, OSHA has conducted 24,075 inspections, according to data released at the American Society of Safety Engineers’ Safety 2009 conference. At that rate, OSHA should match the number of inspections performed in 2008: 38,450.

So far in the 2009 fiscal year, 63% of inspections have been the result of OSHA programs that target industries or facilities with high incident rates.

The rest, 37% are due to fatalities, injuries or an employee complaint.

Six out of ten inspections have been in the construction industry.

In 2008, 121 inspections resulted in fines of more than $100,000. From Oct. 1, 2008 through June 26, 2009, there have been 72 six-figure or larger fines.

Sometimes, OSHA inspectors don’t find any problems. That’s been the case 22% of the time so far in FY ‘09.

OSHA finds an average of 3.1 violations per inspection. Of those, it classifies 81% in categories that mean higher fines for companies: serious, willful, repeat and failure to abate.

Milk Specialties Co. of Whitehall, WI, faces $1.14 million in OSHA fines in connection with a Dec. 2008 inspection. Inspectors visited the facility in response to a complaint alleging a variety of hazards at Milk Specialties’ whey processing plant.

OSHA issued 17 willful violations, totaling $1.07 million, for confined space and control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) requirements.

The citations say untrained employees entered confined spaces and performed maintenance and cleaning on powered equipment without protection from various hazards.

The company also faces 4 repeat and 17 serious citations that account for the balance of the total fine. Among the other citations:

• combustible dust hazards
• lack of exit route lighting and signage
• uninspected fire extinguishers, and
• deficiencies in guarding floor and wall openings.

Milk Specialties has been inspected by OSHA 15 times since 1974, including 4 inspections in Wisconsin between 2006 and 2008.

The company has 15 days to accept or appeal the citations.

You can read more about OSHA’s citation here.

OSHA wielded its more expensive willful, repeat and serious citations against this company that has a history of safety violations.

But, is a million-dollar citation enough, or should OSHA take further steps against the company such as closing this particular facility until safety improvements are made?

Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.

The criminal fine is the maximum allowed. Tyson will also be on probation for one year.

On Oct. 10, 2003, at Tyson’s River Valley Animal Foods plant in Texarkana, AR, maintenance employee Jason Kelley was overcome by the fumes while repairing a leak from a hydrolyzer. Another employee and two emergency responders were hospitalized due to exposure during the rescue attempt.

Federal laws require employers to take steps that limit employee exposure to hazardous substances such as hydrogen sulfide gas.

The gas at the Tyson plant came from the decomposition of biological material such as poultry feathers.

The U.S. Department of Justice statement on the Tyson case is here.

An official says UCLA is appealing the citations so that they can’t be used against the university in any future proceeding, such as a lawsuit or criminal prosecution, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lab assistant Sheri Sangji was transferring about 2 ounces of t-butyl lithium from one sealed container to another when a plastic syringe came apart in her hands.

The chemical ignited when it was exposed to air, setting her rubber gloves and synthetic sweater ablaze. She was burned over about half of her body and died 18 days later.

Part of the fine, $18,000, was for Sangji’s lack of a lab coat. UCLA was also fined for lack of proper employee training.

UCLA’s fear of further action against it is quite real. Cal-OSHA regularly refer workplace fatalities to district attorneys for review.

Sangji’s sister is calling for a DA investigation, and more than 1,300 people have signed an online petition calling for one.

Another possibility is a lawsuit by a labor union. Sangji’s family may be prevented from filing a lawsuit because of laws that make workers’ comp the exclusive remedy for relatives of a killed employee.

As part of its investigation, Cal-OSHA noted UCLA had not addressed deficiencies found in its own internal safety inspection two months before the fatal fire, including a finding that workers weren’t wearing lab coats.

Lesson for other companies: If your own internal safety audit finds deficiencies, not taking quick action can prove costly.

While it didn’t cite Wal-Mart for a violation of a specific standard, OSHA has used its General Duty Clause to fine the retailer in the trampling death of a worker last November.

Wal-Mart has 15 business days to decide whether to pay the $7,000 fine or appeal it.

OSHA issued Wal-Mart one serious citation under its General Duty Clause for inadequate crowd management following the Nov. 28, 2008, death of its employee, Jdimytai Damour, at its Valley Stream, NY, store.

Damour died of asphyxiation after he was knocked to the ground and trampled by a crowd of about 2,000 shoppers who surged into the store for its annual day-after-Thanksgiving sale.

OSHA says employees were exposed to being crushed by the crowd due to the store’s failure to implement reasonable and effective crowd management techniques.

OSHA’s acting director for the Long Island, NY, area, Anthony Ciuffo, said this was not an unforeseen situation. Ciuffo says Wal-Mart should have recognized the hazards based on previous Friday-after-Thanksgiving crowds.

Wise use of General Duty Clause?

The agency cites the General Duty Clause when there’s no specific regulation that covers an incident resulting in serious injury or death.

OSHA’s General Duty Clause states, “Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”

How does OSHA define “recognized hazards”? In its recently revised Field Operations Manual (FOM) for inspectors, OSHA lists three ways in which a hazard qualifies as recognized:

• Employer recognition: This can be established by evidence of actual employer knowledge of a hazardous condition.
• Industry recognition: A hazard is recognized if the employer’s industry is aware of its existence.
• Common sense recognition: The FOM states, “Hazard recognition can still be established if a hazardous condition is so obvious that any reasonable person would have recognized it.”

So, here’s the question: Do you think trampling by a crowd was a recognized hazard in this Wal-Mart case? Also, what do you think about OSHA’s increased use of the General Duty Clause overall? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

While working, an employee was pulled into and lodged in a large lathe. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead when they arrived. The worker died of severe trauma to his upper torso.

OSHA determined the lathe didn’t have proper machine guards.

In all, OSHA issued 23 alleged serious safety and health violations against the company, including:

• blocked or locked exit routes
• lack of proper fire protection equipment and training
• inadequate forklift truck training
• improper storage of compressed gas cylinders, and
• lack of protective gear for skin exposure to hexavalent chromium.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to pay the fines or contest them.

Wrico Stamping Co. of Grapevine, TX, has 15 days to decide whether to contest the fines.

OSHA cited Wrico for:

• one willful violation for failing to perform regular inspections of mechanical power presses
• one serious violation for failing to provide safety blocks on mechanical presses
• one serious violation for not providing adequate supervision while employees are working on hazardous equipment
• one serious violation for not giving employees adequate training for maintaining mechanical equipment, and
• one other-than-serious violation for failing to report an amputation injury within 30 days.

Metalor Technologies faces $46,500 in fines relating to a chlorine leak at the plant on Nov. 7, 2008.

The leak forced more than 200 people to evacuate. Officials said two employees were changing a one-ton chlorine bottle when a hose fractured and released chlorine into the air. The two employees weren’t injured because they were wearing protective gear.

OSHA has cited the company for 10 serious violations involving deficiencies in the plant’s Process Safety Management program, including failure to:

• compile information on the chemicals, technology and equipment used in the purifying process
• perform an initial process hazard analysis
• develop and implement written procedures covering the process
• audit the process at least once every three years, and
• obtain and evaluate the safety and health programs of outside contractors working in the plant.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to contest the fines.

The bill (H.R. 2067) would expand OSHA’s jurisdiction to public employees, including federal, state and local government workers.

Whistleblowers would also get more protection.

But some of the biggest changes would be made to penalties OSHA could issue:

• Fines for willful and repeat citations would increase, with the minimum changing from $5,000 to $8,000 and the maximum from $70,000 to $120,000.
• The maximum fine for serious, failure-to-abate and other-than-serious citations would increase from $7,000 to $12,000.
• The maximum for violations of posting requirements would also increase from $7,000 to $12,000.
• If a violation causes the death of an employee, civil penalty amounts can range from $50,000 to $250,000, with $25,000 as the minimum for smaller companies with 25 or fewer employees.
• OSHA could also pursue criminal charges against a company for an employee’s death, including fines and up to ten years in prison for owners and managers. Criminal penalties for serious bodily injury to an employee could include up to five years in prison.

The bill would also increase OSHA fines every four years for inflation.

Tacoma Goodwill will pay $13,300 for three violations in the death of 27-year-old Nick Miller. The violations are related to the implementation of its accident prevention program, recordkeeping and the safety features of its box tipping machines.

The company was originally hit with nine violations for a total potential fine of $50,000.

A year ago, Miller was crushed under a hydraulic tipper on Goodwill’s loading dock.

Immediately after the accident, Goodwill made voluntary safety improvements, including placement of lock-out devices on its tipper machines.

There was some confusion over whether Miller, who had the cognitive abilities of a 10-year-old, was authorized to operate the tipper, according to The News Tribune.

Some told officials Miller wasn’t authorized, but others said he was, a statement that was backed up by training records which said it was part of his regular duties.

The explosion and fire at the Bayer CropScience plant last August was caused by a thermal runaway reaction during production of insecticide.

A vessel ruptured and flew about 50 feet through the air, demolishing equipment, twisting steel beams, and breaking pipes and conduits.

Eight others were treated and released from a local hospital for chemical exposure.

The CSB says the situation could have been even worse. The explosion happened within 80 feet of a pressure vessel containing more than 13,000 pounds of methyl isocyanate (MIC). That’s the same chemical that caused thousands of deaths in Bhopal, India, 25 years ago.

The preliminary results also state that the explosion was partially caused by a workaround which involved defeating safety interlocks. Plant management had known about the workaround for some time.

OSHA had already fined Bayer $143,000. Bayer is contesting those fines. CSB doesn’t have the authority to issue fines.

The investigation is continuing. The CSB wanted to release preliminary information for the benefit of residents near the plant.

For more information on the CSB investigation, click here.

Not only is this a bizarre OSHA fine, it could set a dangerous precedent. The agency has fined a company for an employee’s fatal injury that happened while he was away from his home office on assignment.

Buffalo News sportswriter Tom Borrelli fell while climbing a steep set of stairs on Nov. 8, 2008, at Buffalo’s All High Stadium where he was covering a football game.

Borrelli was trying to enter the stadium’s press box. To get there, reporters have to climb 13 steep metal stairs, prop open a hatch and walk across an unprotected walkway on the stadium roof.

Borrelli apparently hit his head at the top of the stairs and fell down them.

The reporter was paralyzed from the neck down after the fall and died of his injuries 12 days later.

Now OSHA has issued a fine — not against Buffalo public schools, but against the newspaper for sending Borrelli to cover the game. Total fine: $31,500.

OSHA found that:

• fixed stairways were less than 22 inches wide
• fixed stairs were installed at an angle to the horizontal greater than 50 degrees
• stair railings and handrails were not installed according to regulation; instead there was a single pipe-rail 26 inches above the stair tread
• fixed stairs did not have at least 7 feet of vertical clearance between the stair treads and the overhead obstructions, and
• a side-hinged door was not used at the top of the stairs; instead, there was a hatchway.

Obviously, the newspaper had no control over any of that. So what’s the reasoning behind fining the newspaper?

“Reporters were exposed to the hazards of falls and head injuries whenever they used the press box,” said Arthur Dube, regional director of OSHA’s Buffalo office.

“The newspaper was aware of these conditions. [It] should have prevented the reporters from using the stairs and the press box until they were corrected,” Dube said.

Buffalo News editor Margaret Sullivan called OSHA’s fine “illogical.”

She notes that reporters are sent into all sorts of situations, including covering wars, that newspapers can’t control.

A lawyer for Borrelli’s family says a lawsuit against the school district is pending. The family says it has no intention of suing the newspaper because Borrelli was just performing the job he loved on the day of his fatal injury.

The school district has been cited with serious violations by the state and is under order to repair the stairs by July.

Reporters aren’t the only workers who are sent to conduct their jobs off-site. All sorts of contractors and repair people do this every day, as do salespeople.

Imagine being fined by OSHA because your employee suffered a work injury that didn’t happen on your property.

What do you think of this case? Let us know in the Comments Box below.

OSHA has fined LandCoast Insulation, Inc., $72,000 for alleged safety violations in a scaffolding collapse that left one worker dead and six injured.

The scaffold collapsed inside a plant in Mississippi.

OSHA issued one willful citation for $63,000 for substituting weaker horizontal scaffold components.

LandCoast also faces two serious citations for $9,000 for using damaged scaffold components and for failing to provide employees with effective training.

An OSHA official says the company’s use of weaker parts directly led to the structure’s collapse and the worker’s death.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to contest the fines.

You can read more about this case here.

Prosecutors also have the ability to press criminal charges against the company in addition to OSHA’s penalty.

Crossroad Cooperative Association of Nebraska pleaded guilty to a criminal violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the 2007 grain bin suffocation of an employee. It will pay a $100,000 fine and be on probation for two years as a result.

In 2007, 18-year-old Joseph Teague died after a foreman told him to go into a grain bin with an auger conveyor belt running, according to the Journal Star. OSHA requires such machinery to be shut off if someone enters a bin. Teague was buried in five to seven feet of grain. His body wasn’t found for 30 minutes.

As part of the plea, Crossroads is required to allow OSHA inspectors to have unrestricted access to its plant.

The company settled a civil case against it for $50,000. Teague’s family collected money through the company’s workers’ comp insurance.

Nebraska’s U.S. Attorney, Joe Stecher, said his office will be aggressive in prosecuting companies that don’t provide a safe environment for workers.