Why A Company Fined Nearly $3.5M by OSHA Should Feel Lucky
Federal investigators inspected an auto parts manufacturing company and earlier this month levied nearly $3.5 million in penalties on the company, but the penalties could have been much worse.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) issued 57 citations for safety violations to Sunfield Inc. in Ohio, which resulted in more than $3.42 million in total fines for its failure to implement proper Lockout/Tagout programs, procedures and training to its workers among other safety violations.
The penalties assessed are of the largest OSHA ever filed against a company in the automotive parts industry, according to osha.gov, but Sunfield should feel extremely lucky the inspection didn’t happen next month when OSHA penalties increase by 78% (see our article “OSHA Announces Penalty Increase of Nearly 80%”). Had Sunfield been penalized after next month by OSHA, the penalties would likely have been in excess of $6 million instead of nearly $3.5 million.
In addition to citations and financial penalties, OSHA placed Sunfield Inc. in the agency’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP), a dubious distinction because OSHA makes it virtually impossible to extricate one’s business from the program once captured by it.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Sunfield was placed in SVEP. The facility has an extensive history of federal safety violations dating back some 20 years, all of which Sunfield vowed to correct, but allegedly failed to do so.
Two recent incidents drew OSHA investigators back to Sunfield in Ohio to look for violations once again. The findings of the most recent OSHA investigation included:
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On Jan. 6, 2016, a 22-year-old male temporary worker employed by the staffing agency, Employers Overload, suffered multiple lacerations and a fractured right elbow, while removing scrap from a blanking press after operating machine parts caught his arm because safety light curtains were not operating correctly. OSHA’s investigation found a supervisor had identified the safety issue two hours prior to the injury, and failed to place the equipment out of service. The injured worker had been on the job just six months.
- On Feb. 18, 2016, a full-time 58-year-old Sunfield employee had to undergo surgical amputation of his right arm above the elbow after his arm was crushed as he removed scrap on a robotic press line. Investigators again found that the machine’s danger zone did not have adequate safe guards to prevent employees from coming in contact with operating machine parts. He had been on the job for just a year.
With a daily workforce of about 175, Sunfield Inc. is a motor vehicle metal parts stamping operation established in 1993. The Hebron site is the only U.S. plant. The parent company, Ikeda Manufacturing Company LTD. is headquartered in Ota-City, Gunma, Japan.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.