A company recently was fined $563,000 for 10 OSHA violations. How did a relatively small number of fines add up to that large amount?

OSHA inspected Republic Engineered Product’s Lorain, OH, facility after a worker was hospitalized with a broken pelvis in November 2010 following a nine-foot fall.

The agency cited Republic with seven willful and three repeat violations. The willful citations carry $480,500 in penalties and include:

• exposing employees to falls
• failing to guard platforms, and
• failing to use lockout/tagout devices to control the unexpected energization of equipment.

The repeat violations, with fines totaling $82,500, were for failure to:

• train employees in lockout/tagout procedures
• specify the steps necessary to lock out electrical, hydraulic and gravitational energy sources, and
• isolate all hazardous energy sources.

Republic was cited in 2008 at its Lorain facility and its Blasdell, NY, location for the first two repeat citations listed above. It was cited for the third item only at its Blasdell plant.

The company has a long history of violations, including employee injuries and fatalities in several of its plants, according to OSHA administrator David Michaels.

OSHA issued $143,000 in fines against Republic in 2010. Since 1990, the Lorain facility has had 76 violations in addition to those currently being cited.

Tags: fall, lockout/tagout, manufacturer, repeat violations, willful violations