A court has ordered a Galva, IL, pet food production and packaging facility to pay almost $42,000 in fines for contempt and attorney’s fees in a dispute with OSHA.

On May 3, 2011, OSHA sought and received a warrant to inspect the All-Feed Processing and Packaging facility. OSHA wanted to conduct an inspection after receiving employee complaints of hazardous working conditions including excessive dust and noise. All-Feed had blocked two inspections in April 2011.

OSHA presented its warrant to All-Feed on May 4, 2011, and started an inspection. However, All-Feed refused to allow OSHA to finish the inspection by conducting representative personal samplings as authorized in the warrant.

The case eventually wound up in U.S. District Court, which found All-Feed to be in civil contempt.

OSHA wanted $500/day fines from May 4, 2011, until an inspection was eventually completed on Aug. 26, 2011.

All-Feed argued that it had agreed to an OSHA inspection on July 5, 2011. The court agreed with that, saying part of the reason the inspection wasn’t completed until Aug. 26 was because of delays on OSHA’s part. So the contempt period was limited to the 62 days between May 4 and July 5. At $500/day, the fine comes to $31,000.

The court also ordered All-Feed to pay $10,964.95 for OSHA’s attorneys’ fees.

The Aug. 26 inspection resulted in $758,400 in fines against All-Feed, primarily for dust and noise violations. That matter is still unresolved.

The company has been inspected 11 times since 2000, with OSHA finding more than 70 violations.

All-Feed also posted videos on YouTube calling OSHA the “oppression of American business.”

The company took down the YouTube videos, but its own website still states that OSHA “has been knocking on our door consistently for the better part of the last decade, harassing and falsely accusing us of providing a ‘dangerous workplace.’ They have fined us beyond any reasonable measure.”

The web post goes on to call the OSHA fines against All-Feed “cruel and unusual,” and says the agency is “bullying us into submission without any cause or justification.”

Many attorneys who represent companies in legal disputes with OSHA advise employers to be ready for OSHA inspections and not refuse an inspector to enter. Reason: Why start off on a bad foot with an agency that has the ability to fine you up to $70,000 for each violation?

Do you think it was a bad idea for All-Feed to refuse the inspection? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

The post Company that bashed OSHA on YouTube ordered to pay $42K for contempt appeared first on Safety News Alert.

Insurers are increasingly using Facebook and other social media to find evidence that could lead to denial of workers’ comp benefits.

That word comes from the law firm of Ingerman & Horwitz, which is warning its clients who are injured workers that things they post on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube or elsewhere on the web could work against them.

“We are seeing an increasing number of cases where insurance companies and their lawyers are searching social media sites … for photos and blogs about what our clients are doing while they are recovering from their injuries,” says Alan Horwitz, co-founder of the firm.

Courts are even ordering injured workers to produce their Facebook or other social media pages for inspection by insurance company lawyers.

“In one current case, our client’s Workers’ Compensation benefits were stopped by the insurance company when their lawyers discovered he was selling personal items daily on Craigslist and eBay,” says the firm’s Bruce Ingerman. “The insurance company considered that he was earning income and therefore was no longer eligible for workers’ compensation.”

Ingerman and Horwitz see this as a bad development. “The devil could indeed be lurking in the details one chooses to post online.”

But this could be a good development for employers. Insurance companies used to send investigators to videotape injured workers who appeared to be not-quite-so-injured when they thought no one was looking.

Now, the injured workers can save the insurance companies from having to videotape anything. Their Facebook pages can show just how injured they are.

The post Will Facebook help uncover workers’ comp fraud? appeared first on Safety News Alert.

A worker removing a tree stump tripped and nearly fell onto his chainsaw. The close call was captured by the reporter’s camera and has been posted on YouTube.

WTVW, Evansville, IN, reporter Drew Gardner says, “A man standing behind me has a dangerously close call with a chainsaw during my storm coverage in Southern Illinois.”

It seems the worker could have used OSHA’s Chain Saw Safety Tips Quick Card, which includes advice for workers, such as:

• Shut off the saw or engage its chain brake when carrying the saw on rough or uneven terrain, and
• Keep your hands on the saw’s handles, and maintain secure footing while operating the saw.

The post Video: Man nearly saws his face off while TV camera records appeared first on Safety News Alert.