On Tuesday, the US Department of Labor's Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said that Ohio-based SBQ producer Republic Steel was cited for 24 safety violations carrying fines of $1,138,500. Fifteen willful violations of OSHA's fall protection standards were found at the company's Canton, Ohio steel manufacturing plant.
OSHA received a formal complaint from the United Steelworkers Union alleging inadequate fall protection and other unsafe practices exposing workers to various hazards in the plant's melt shop. During the inspection, opened in February 2013, OSHA discovered that two workers had been seriously injured in falls at the site in June and August of 2012.
The company has a history of failing to address fall hazards. In 2011, after an employee was seriously injured in a fall at the company's Lorain, Ohio, facility, OSHA issued willful citations to the company for fall hazards. In a settlement entered into with OSHA in 2012, the company accepted three willful fall hazard violations at the Lorain plant and to address fall protection at its plants, including the Canton plant.
Republic Steel will remain in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. The company was placed in the program in 2011. OSHA's severe violator program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
The Canton plant has been inspected by OSHA 16 times, which resulted in one willful, two repeat, 22 serious and 23 other-than-serious final order citations. As a corporate entity, Republic Steel has been inspected 79 times resulting in the issuance of six willful, 15 repeat, 145 serious and 70 other-than-serious final order citations.