KENTON, Ohio - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Kenton Iron Products LLC with $214,500 in proposed penalties for 29 alleged serious, willful, and repeat safety and health violations for unsafe working conditions at the company’s iron casting facility in Kenton.

As a result of a January 2010 inspection, OSHA has issued three alleged willful citations with proposed penalties of $156,000 for failing to ensure that some equipment was de-energized and shut down properly, and lockout/tagout procedures were in place before workers conducted maintenance on the equipment to prevent accidental start-up of machinery. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Twenty-two serious citations with proposed penalties of $50,700 also have been issued. These include excess amounts of flammable liquids stored in a fire area; lack of or improper capacity labeling on equipment; malfunctioning back up alarms and hydraulic leaks on equipment; failure to have and enforce electrical lockout/tagout procedures; lack of employee fall protections; lack of proper personal protective gear for workers, and unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

Additionally, OSHA has issued $7,800 in proposed fines for three repeat violations, including failing to provide proper grounding and bonding of flammable liquids, failing to provide safety latches on material handling hooks, and using compressed air over the 30 pounds per square inch limit. OSHA issues repeat violations if that employer previously was cited for the same or similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last three years.

The company also has received one other-than-serious citation for using damaged electrical testing equipment. Other-than-serious citations are given when the violation would not directly cause a death or serious physical harm, but would affect the safety and health of employees.

“There is no excuse for a company to disregard the safety and welfare of its workers by not following OSHA safety standards,” said OSHA Area Director Jule Hovi in Toledo, Ohio. “Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers.”

Kenton Iron Products manufactures iron castings at its two foundries located in Kenton and has more than 80 employees. The company has been inspected by OSHA 10 times since 1981 and has received 49 previous citations.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

MILWAUKEE - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Rexnord Industries LLC with $130,500 in proposed penalties for violating federal workplace safety standards after a mechanical power press operator, removing parts from a parts dumper, had her arm amputated when the machine unexpectedly began to operate.

As a result of a January 2010 inspection, OSHA has issued Rexnord one willful, six serious and one repeat citation. The willful citation, with a proposed penalty of $70,000, is for failing to provide proper guarding on the mechanical power presses to prevent an amputation. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Some of the six serious citations, with proposed penalties of $25,500, include failing to provide proper machine guarding and to conduct regular, periodic and weekly inspections of mechanical power presses and electrical hazards. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

The company also received a $35,000 proposed fine for a repeat violation because it failed to provide proper protection to its employees working on metal cutting band saws and lathes. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facilities in federal enforcement states within the last three years.

“There is no excuse for a company to disregard the safety and welfare of its workers by not following OSHA safety standards,” said OSHA Area Director George Yoksas in Milwaukee. “Those who ignore safe practices and OSHA regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers.”

The company, which manufactures transmissions and conveying equipment, employs more than 5,300 workers at 22 facilities in the United States.

Rexnord has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

ST. LOUIS - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Clint Horn, doing business as Sturgis Tuckpointing, in St. Louis with alleged safety violations for repeatedly exposing workers to fall hazards while working on scaffolding structures. Proposed penalties total $221,600.

“Falls remain the number one killer of workers in the construction industry,” said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. “OSHA will not tolerate employers who repeatedly fail to provide and ensure the use of fall protection, continuing to place their workers’ lives at needless risk.”

OSHA’s inspection, which began in February 2010, resulted in Sturgis Tuckpointing receiving two alleged serious and five alleged repeat citations. The serious violations address hazards associated with the misuse of portable ladders. OSHA issues a serious citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard that an employer knew or should have known about.

The repeat violations address hazards associated with a lack of worksite inspections, no protection from overhead hazards, unsafe scaffold access, lack of fall protection on a scaffold and a lack of or deficient scaffold training. OSHA issues repeat violations when an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facilities in federal enforcement states within the last three years.

Detailed information on scaffold hazards and safe work practices, including an interactive e-Tool, is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/scaffolding/index.html.

Sturgis Tuckpointing has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in St. Louis or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov

DALLAS - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Krestmark Industries LP with one alleged willful and 10 alleged serious violations following a safety and health inspection at the company’s worksite in Dallas. Penalties total $129,500.

“This employer clearly knew that workers at this facility were exposed to hazardous levels of noise,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s area director in Dallas. “The company ignored its responsibility under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and continued to jeopardize the health and safety of its workers.”

OSHA’s Dallas Area Office began its inspection in January at Krestmark’s Bastille Road facility after receiving a complaint alleging employees were being exposed to safety hazards. A willful violation has been issued for the company’s failure to institute an effective hearing conservation program when workers were exposed to noise levels at or above 85 decibels. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

The company also has been cited with 10 serious violations for failing to protect workers from being struck by flying objects, the unexpected release of energy while servicing and maintaining equipment, exposure to blood and hazardous chemicals and failing to train workers on the safe operation of forklift trucks. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call OSHA’s Dallas Area Office at 214-320-2400 or OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742 to report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers.

Krestmark Industries has 15 business days from receipt of citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Dallas, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

MENTOR, Ohio - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Mentor-based RKI Inc., which operates the Roll-Kraft steel manufacturing facility, with 12 alleged safety violations carrying proposed penalties of $69,650. The company has been cited for failing to properly protect workers against electrical and machine hazards, and for not providing required safety training.

OSHA has cited the company with one willful and seven serious safety violations following an inspection in January. Some of these violations include the company’s failure to provide adequate guarding on lathes, grinding and other dangerous machines; to develop and implement training on locking a machine’s energy source, and alerting others about the state of that power source; and to provide proper fire response training.

A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirement, or plain indifference to employee safety and health. An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

The company also has received four other-than-serious violations for failing to properly record past workplace injuries.

“It is the responsibility of employers to ensure workers are provided with proper safety protection against electrical and machine hazards, and that they receive proper emergency training,” said OSHA Area Director Rob Medlock in Cleveland, Ohio. “Those who ignore these safety and health regulations are inviting tragedy into the lives of their workers.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced it has resolved litigation with Imperial Sugar Co. stemming from the February 2008 explosion at its Port Wentworth, Ga., plant and subsequently discovered safety and health violations at the company’s Gramercy, La., facility.

“The 2008 explosion took the lives of 14 people and seriously injured dozens of others. Clearly, health and safety must become this company’s top priority,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “This agreement requires Imperial Sugar to make extensive changes to its safety practices, and it underscores the importance of proactively addressing workplace safety and health hazards.”

In the agreement, submitted to Judge Covette Rooney of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, Imperial Sugar will pay $4,050,000 in penalties for the 124 violations found at its Port Wentworth plant after the explosion, plus an additional $2 million for the 97 violations found in March 2008 after an inspection of its only other facility, located in Gramercy. The citations alleged, among other safety and health hazards, that the company failed to properly address combustible dust hazards.

As part of the settlement, Imperial Sugar agrees that it has corrected all deficiencies at both of its plants or will correct those deficiencies according to a set schedule. Preventative maintenance and housekeeping programs have been established, and Imperial Sugar will identify and map locations where combustible dust may be present at its plants. The company also will conduct regular internal safety inspections and employee training, and hire an independent expert at each plant to ensure that there are adequate avenues of communication on worker safety and health issues within the company.

Furthermore, Imperial Sugar has hired and agrees to continue to employ a full-time certified safety professional for the Georgia plant. The company will retain outside consultants to conduct safety audits for a three-year period and evaluate Imperial’s programs relating to managing combustible dust hazards, such as housekeeping, preventative maintenance and protective equipment for workers. OSHA will approve all safety, health and organizational experts retained by the company.

OSHA will receive current and accurate injury logs whenever requested, and OSHA will be allowed to enter the facility and conduct inspections based on those logs without objection from the company. OSHA will regularly monitor progress and compliance with the agreement and continue to conduct regular inspections of the facility.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Recurring safety hazards at the Puerto Nuevo Port Area marine terminal in San Juan have led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to propose $72,500 in fines against Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico Inc. OSHA cited the company for alleged repeat and serious violations of safety standards following an inspection opened June 7 in response to a complaint from employees.

“Workers performing stevedoring operations at the terminal were exposed to potential crushing, fall, electrical and struck-by hazards while operating loaders, trucks and cranes with safety deficiencies,” said José A. Carpena, OSHA’s area director for Puerto Rico. “We are concerned that several of these conditions are similar to hazards cited during an earlier OSHA inspection. For the safety of its workers, this employer must correct these hazards and ensure they do not happen again.”

OSHA found several instances where top loaders and trucks were operated with defects, including inaudible or inoperable back-up alarms and inoperable or missing headlights, brake lights, horns and wipers. Employees were also exposed to live electrical parts while working in the operator’s cabin of a crane and lacked eye and hand protection. OSHA cited Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico Inc. in October 2006 for similar hazards at this same location. As a result, three repeat citations, with $57,500 in proposed fines, have been issued to the company for these recurring conditions.

The latest inspection also found workers exposed to possible tip over of trucks and top loaders due to holes and unleveled terrain at the marine terminal as well as unsafe access to the crane’s operator cabin, an obstructed operator’s view from the crane’s cabin and disconnected brake lines on trucks. These conditions resulted in four serious citations, with $15,000 in proposed fines. OSHA issues serious citations when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from hazards about which the employer knew or should have known.

“One means of preventing recurring hazards is for employers to establish an effective comprehensive workplace safety and health program in which their workers take a continuous and active role in evaluating, identifying and eliminating hazards,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Puerto Rico Area Office; telephone 787-277-1560. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the U.S. Postal Service for alleged willful and repeat violations of safety standards following an inspection at the Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Scarborough, Maine. The Postal Service faces a total of $430,000 in fines, chiefly for exposing workers to electrical hazards.

“These citations and sizable fines reflect the Postal Service’s failure to equip its workers with the necessary knowledge and skills to safely work with live electrical parts,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The Postal Service knew that proper and effective training was needed for the safety of its workers but did not provide it.”

OSHA’s inspection, which began Dec. 29, 2009, in response to a complaint from workers at the Scarborough facility, found employees working with or near live electrical equipment without adequate training or qualifications, personal protective equipment, safety-related work practices and warning signs.

These conditions exposed the workers to electric shock, arc flashes and arc blasts and resulted in OSHA issuing six willful citations, with $420,000 in proposed fines, to the Postal Service. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health.

In addition, OSHA found that access to electrical panels was blocked in several instances by materials being stored adjacent to them. This situation resulted in one repeat citation, with a $10,000 fine, since the Postal Service had been cited in November 2007 for the same type of hazard at a Toledo, Ohio, postal facility.

The Postal Service has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with the OSHA area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. This inspection was conducted by OSHA’s Augusta Area Office; telephone 207-626-9160. To report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

EL PASO, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Schneider Electric, doing business as Square D, in El Paso for alleged workplace safety violations following the electrocution fatality of a worker at the company’s facility on Northwestern Drive.

“Employees deserve a safe workplace,” said Jack Rector, OSHA’s area director in El Paso. “If the company had followed OSHA’s standards to ensure that testing equipment was free of electrical hazards, this tragedy could have been avoided.”

OSHA’s El Paso Area Office began its inspection on Jan. 21 after a worker was electrocuted when he grabbed the test leads on a shop-made cart the company used to test equipment. The investigation found that Schneider Electric, which employs about 160 workers at its El Paso facility, exposed workers to various electrical hazards during the testing process of equipment the company manufactures.

OSHA has cited the company with nine serious violations including failing to ensure personal protective equipment was tested and maintained; to ensure that workers who were testing the equipment wore proper electrical rated gloves, footwear and/or fire resistant clothing; to provide written procedures for equipment testing; to ensure that qualified employees were allowed to work on energized electrical parts or equipment, and to ensure that all electrical openings in boxes were properly covered and closed. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Proposed penalties total $42,300.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in El Paso, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Employers and workers with questions about workplace safety and health standards can call the El Paso Area Office at 915-534-6251 or OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742 to report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

CHANNELVIEW, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Sneed Shipbuilding Inc. for alleged serious, repeat and other-than-serious violations for exposing employees to electrical and other safety hazards at the company’s facility on Market Street in Channelview. Proposed penalties total $59,300.

“Welders were using damaged welding leads, and the company failed to repair damaged electrical junction boxes,” said David Doucet, director of OSHA’s Houston North Area Office. “Electrical hazards like these can cause electrocution.”

OSHA’s Houston North Area Office began its investigation on April 27, finding structural deficiencies on one of the crawler cranes Sneed Shipbuilding maintained and operated, as well as electrical hazards throughout the shipyard. OSHA has issued 19 serious citations, including failing to provide employees with fall protection, guards on grinders, covers over open manholes in decks, and fire extinguishers in areas where flammable paint and solvents are used. A serious violation is one that could cause death or serious physical harm to employees when the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.

A repeat violation has been issued for failing to provide employees operating crawler cranes with load rating charts. A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last three years.

Two other-than-serious citations have been issued for failing to properly complete the required Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses form, and to maintain a written respiratory protection program for employees exposed to inhalation hazards. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Houston North area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call OSHA’s Houston North Area Office at 281-591-2438 or the agency’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742 to report workplace accidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.