Safety complaint leads to seven-figure fine
June 23, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: confined spaces, cost of safety, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, whistleblower, Who Got Fined and Why?
PDF OSHA takes employee safety complaints seriously, especially when a company has a record of previous infractions.
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.
SafetyNewsAlert.com delivers the latest Safety news once a week to the inboxes of over 270,000 Safety professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to SafetyNewsAlert!
Tags: employee safety complaints, Milk Specialties Co., seven-figure OSHA fine
Loading ...
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:07 am
The fact that they are not doing even the minimum like having their extinguishers inspected and training their forklift operators tells me they don’t care about their workers. I live in WI and would hate to see some of my friends and neighbors lose their jobs if they shut this facility down but would hate even more to see them not come home one day because they got hurt or killed on the job. Clean up your act Milk Specialties Co.!
June 23rd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
This is a very misleading OSHA Region 5 News Release. There never was any repeat OSHA citations by the Eau Claire, WI Area OSHA Office for this newly acquired facility. The OSHA inspection took place less than 60 days after acquisition from SPF North America, a pet flavor and ingredient mfg. Additionally none of the citations resulted from many of the same safety and health hazards cited in the most recent inspections. Since there wasn’t any recent inspections at the Milk Specialties Whitehall, WI facility.
June 23rd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Editor’s note: John A. makes an important point. OSHA has said that it will count violations at other facilities owned by the same company when it considers whether to issue repeat violations, which carry potentially higher fines than serious violations. That’s exactly what happened in this case.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Andy Purvin a member of the Online Safety Community gave me permission to share his comment with others on the topic, which reinforces Fred’s comment:
“I ran into this a lot at my previous employer. OSHA says since the company has a large enough communications network, relaying information between plants wouldn’t be a hardship. Therefore, since they could have “learned” from the previous inspection citations, it technically IS repeat violations. I argued similar points to yours, but lost. Companies that have multi-site designation are going to be held accountable to update all plants on Regulatory Activity. To combat this, at my current company, when OSHA “visited” one of our locations, I communicated the results to all and confirmed corrective actions had taken place at EVERY location to avoid repeat violations.”
June 26th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
This is rediculous, what about the employees working there, what about their safety. With todays economy it’s not easy to walk away from a job but with this company it seems that the workers are in danger of not walking away at all. How many times does OSHA have to tell MSC how to run their plants in a safe manner? One plant or 100 either way this company jumped the gun on opening and forgot about the safety of their employees, I mean come on no fire exit lighting and no inspections on fire extinquishers, how couldn’t they have known that they were doing wrong???????????
June 29th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
MSHA is the same way. My company has several locations and the inspectors expect us to share information throughout the company. We do the same as Mr Purvin, above.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Thanks for helpful input Jennifer, J H, and Jason
June 29th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Do I understand the fined facility was just aquired from another company?.
When my clients want to buy or acquire a facility we do a DUE DILIGENCE on SAFETY as well as environmental. So didn’t the buyer perform at least a fast walkthru and an hour with HR or Safety…
June 29th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Yes Jay you are correct, the facility was just acquired from another company. You said it in four succinct words, “DUE DILIGENCE on SAFETY. Even if the NFPA best engineering controls were adequate prior to purchase, possibly during OSHA walk-through, maybe the housekeeping administrative control’s were sub par. Just a guess.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:46 am
OSHA is a scourge on America. It is the epitome of big government and Nanny state. OSHA should be shut down and it’s employees jailed. How do they sleep at night? Shame, shame on you OSHA. You people that are causing untold pain and suffering. Welcome to Socialism, America.
OSHA is an unchecked, big-brother evil that needs to be extinguished. How many more innocent business will be unfairly punished? How many Americans will needlessly loose their jobs? OSHA is the lowest scum of the earth. Less government now!
June 30th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Whoa! Tell us how you really feel. Without OSHA people wouldn’t have jobs to lose, they’d be dead.
July 28th, 2009 at 9:36 am
OSHA definately has a job to do and it helps protect employees and employers. However, I don’t feel that they have the right or the responsibility to shut down facilities. Please lets not forget that the employees have the right and responsibility to not work in an unsafe or unhealthy environment. Every one has responsibilities for employee well-being not just the employer or OSHA.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:03 am
If employers don’t disclose risks in their processes to their employees, they should be shut down! Too often employers figure its cheaper to pay the OSHA fine than it is to retrofit an old piece of machinery to make it safe or have thier employees fit with a respirator. I don’t think there are many bad employers like this but there is still some out there. Until that is no longer the case, OSHA is needed to protect America’s workers.
I agree, working safe is largely up to the employee, but sometimes employers don’t share risk information and/or hide major hazards. These type of employers is why we need OSHA and why OSHA must retain the right to shut down a facility exposes their employees to imminent danger(s).
January 21st, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Shawn…let me guess…you are one of the workers that have had OSHA down your back….. if we didnt have OHSA or OH&S (im in Canada) there would be alot of suffering. Workers have rights and OSHA is there to protect them. If all our ducks are in a row, we do not need to fear OSHA. Visits from them could be a learning tool to make things better. The money company’s save just by being in compliance is amazing! If its wrong then why do it? Just learn the laws and regulations and do whats right and OSHA would not be a threat. You have a real poblem with authority and I bet your one of the guys who complains when they have to use PPE! Pathetic. Get a life and live by the rules and you will live longer. With an attitude like yours, you will be one of the statistics we are reading about! As for them shutting down facilities, well, im a health and safety manager and I have come very close to shutting down one of my own facilities just because one guy wasnt wearing his safety glasses. Employers and employees need to learn a lesson. If its learning by losing a few bucks, so be it! Better than losing a few lives!
October 5th, 2010 at 9:43 am
Shawn I am as Conservative as anyone. But OSHA is one good government agency. Government is designed to do what private business does not. In their effort to make profits which is good sometimes Safety is overlooked. OSHA is doing a proper goverment function. In fact when companies are allowed to not operate in a safe manner it costs us all in medical and disability benefits.
I support OSHA as a necessary function in a modern society. In fact I think all businesses should have to pay for OSHA inspection every 6 months and not the current inspection arrangement.
October 7th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
I hope the owner closes the plant down and opens another one overseas.
Then all the idiots claiming OSHA protects them and looks out for their best interests can go look for a job in the service industry where OSHA doesn’t hound people….and they make far less.