An Ohio furniture manufacturer faces stiff fines from OSHA. Many of the violations involve alleged combustible dust hazards at the plant.
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.