One of my Wisconsin Clients had a saw with a guard. OSHA didn’t like the position of the guard and fined the client $10,000 even though the guard was proper distance determined by mfg and on saws all over the country. No injuries and a $10000 fine, 4 deaths and $4200. Does anyone smell something fishy?
sandman, part of it would depend on if you live in a state-plan state. Federal OSHA is rather weak compared to most state agencies. The only reason the fine wasn’t higher is because Fed OSHA doesn’t have a good schedule of fines.
If the story is even close to accurate the employer deserved the fine. Confined Spaces and Lockout/Tagout are two of the most basic and well-known regulations in industry. Just based on the fact that 4 people died I can say at the very least they have a truly ineffective training program. They need to hire a safety professional ASAP to get their ship in order. Or get with OSHA Consultation for a while.
sandman, the same rules should apply, since they both happened in the same state. Sorry I didn’t pick that up in your first post.
Other items to factor in are: focus programs, how the inspector was treated during the inspection, and whether someone ran over his dog before work that morning. Nobody likes to admit it but a lot of how an inspection comes out is not based on how safe a company is but how good a mood they can keep the inspector in.
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One of my Wisconsin Clients had a saw with a guard. OSHA didn’t like the position of the guard and fined the client $10,000 even though the guard was proper distance determined by mfg and on saws all over the country. No injuries and a $10000 fine, 4 deaths and $4200. Does anyone smell something fishy?
sandman, part of it would depend on if you live in a state-plan state. Federal OSHA is rather weak compared to most state agencies. The only reason the fine wasn’t higher is because Fed OSHA doesn’t have a good schedule of fines.
If the story is even close to accurate the employer deserved the fine. Confined Spaces and Lockout/Tagout are two of the most basic and well-known regulations in industry. Just based on the fact that 4 people died I can say at the very least they have a truly ineffective training program. They need to hire a safety professional ASAP to get their ship in order. Or get with OSHA Consultation for a while.
Lastbat, good thoughts. I just figured both my case and the posting were from Wisconsin. Same rules should apply. or do they?
Strange that nobody has commented about the company failing to train it’s employees for confined space entry.
sandman, the same rules should apply, since they both happened in the same state. Sorry I didn’t pick that up in your first post.
Other items to factor in are: focus programs, how the inspector was treated during the inspection, and whether someone ran over his dog before work that morning. Nobody likes to admit it but a lot of how an inspection comes out is not based on how safe a company is but how good a mood they can keep the inspector in.