Tire Company Fined By OSHA For More Than $50K After Two Inspections

New Bedford, MA (Workerscompensation.com)- OSHA has cited a New Bedford company specializing in recycling and scrap tire removal for four safety violations, one repeat and two serious health violations, that ended in proposed penalties of $58,178.

Bob's Tire Company partook in an informal conference with OSHA last week to discuss the citation and penalties and resolve the matter. However, it was not, and an OSHA spokesperson told WorkersCompensation.com that "The employer filed a notice of contest." The owner of Bob's Tire Co. Robert Bates has been given until August 11 to remediate the problems.

The company was the subject of two inspections that stemmed from complaints.  According to the Citation and Penalty documents that WorkersCompensation.com obtained, OSHA inspected the job site in February and cited the company for the following serious violations: 

• A powered industrial truck that was found to be in need of repair, defective, or in any way unsafe had not been taken out of service until restored to safe operating condition. Specifically, a yard tractor was used to move trailers without a working audible back-up alarm.
• Machine guarding was not provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks. OSHA said employees engaged in receiving used tires from the ground via a conveyor are exposed to caught-in hazards from an in-going nip point where the conveyor belt had a gap of greater than three inches between the roller and wall.
• Yard workers were exposed to struck-by and crushed-by hazards while walking and working in an area where dump trucks, tractor trailers, wheel loaders, and other heavy equipment was being operated without a traffic control plan. They were also exposed to struck-by hazards where wheel loaders were used with snowplow attachments that were not authorized by the manufacturer for pushing used tires around the yard where employees were walking and working.

 “One feasible means to correct the hazard, among others would be to create a traffic safety program for the yard that includes the safe operation of wheel loaders, yard tractors, and vehicles,” OSHA recommended, according to court documents. “This should include safety checks to ensure that equipment and vehicles are in safe working order, traffic controls that may include markings, signs, spotters, and safety awareness for pedestrians. Safety awareness should include at least the following: 1) Ensure that all employees wear high-visibility clothing when walking in the yard. 2) Train employees on traffic controls including any designated walkways. 3) Train employees on ‘blind spots’ for various vehicle types and establish protocol for making eye contact with the operator before approaching or walking near a vehicle.”

OSHA revisited the jobsite for another inspection and cited the company for two serious and one repeat violation for the following: 

• Signs were not posted along the exit access indicating the direction of travel to the nearest exit and exit discharge.
• Bathrooms were not provided with individual hand towels or sections thereof, of cloth or paper, warm air blowers or clean individual sections of continuous cloth toweling. The air dryer in the restroom was not working and no other means to dry hands were provided.
• The repeat violation was for failing to have assigned storage spaces for cylinders located away from elevators, stairs, or gangways where cylinders could not be knocked over or damaged by passing or falling objects, or subject to tampering by unauthorized persons. In the yard that is adjacent to the mechanic shop an oxygen gas cylinder that was subject to being knocked over was not secured. The company had previously been issued a citation for this violation back in 2017.

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