OSHA recently fined a Macon fiber-cement plant , Nichiha, $138,6000 for repeated safety violations.
Nichiha has been inspected six times since 2009 and was cited on five of those visits. Nichiha is now in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. According to OSHA the most serious violations included the employer failing to conduct annual inspections of energy control procedures, exposing workers to hazards by not locking out all of the energy sources on equipment and failing to account for all workers before removing locks and energizing equipment after doing maintenance on said equipment. OSHA considers a serious violation any situation “when there is substantial probability that death or serious harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.”
According to OSHA’s area director, Bill Fulcher, “Nichiha is not taking the necessary steps to protect its workers by ensuring machinery is properly locked out and de-energized before employees perform maintenance and cleaning. Workers are exposed to the risk of serious injury or death just to earn a paycheck. Changes must be made immediately.”
Read more here: https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=25677
