OSHA Cites Machine & Fabrication Shop For Health Hazards

Frackville, PA (WorkersCompensation.com) - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Bear Ridge Machine & Fabrication for 31 serious safety and health violations at their Frackville shop. The November inspection was initiated as part of OSHA's Site-Specific Targeting Program for industries with high injury and illness rates. Proposed penalties total $70,000.

The serious violations involve electrical hazards and a failure to implement a respiratory protection and hazard communication program; keep workplaces clean and sanitary; make exits clearly visible and marked; conduct a workplace hazard assessment; conduct fit testing and medical evaluations for respirator users; provide personal protective equipment for welders; provide machine guarding; provide fire extinguisher and hazard communication training; ensure proper cleansing of respirators; and remove defective power industrial trucks from service. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

"These hazards pose serious risks to the health and safety of workers at the company's facility and should be immediately corrected," said Mark Stelmack, director of OSHA's Wilkes Barre, Pa., Area Office. "OSHA will hold employers legally accountable when they jeopardize the safety of workers."

Bear Ridge Machine & Fabrication, which employs 28 workers at its Frackville shop and specializes in expedited repair and replacement of parts or production fabrications, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Wilkes Barre office at 570-826-6538.

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