More than $170,000 in fines were recently issued to Bath Iron Works. The company in Maine was cited for a number of serious and repeat violations for neglecting to help to protect workers from an on-the-job accident in New England, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The recent safety and health inspection comes from OSHA’s Augusta office. The inspection was conducted as a part of the Administration’s Site-Specific Targeting Program and its local program that is currently being used to focus on the dangers that workers face in ship- and boat-building and repair work environments. The safety and health inspection discovered that the company allowed a number of electrical, mechanical and fall dangers, among other dangers.
Our Boston workers’ compensation lawyers understand that workers on this New England work site were not provided the proper fall protection and were working on roof edges that were unguarded. The roofs had openings and various holes posing serious and potentially fatal fall risks to employees. In addition to these fall hazards, the company’s work site was also cited for having various trip and fall dangers, obstructed walkways, under-trained employees, failing to keep flammable chemicals properly stored, exposing electrical sheathing, not inspecting equipment properly, etc.
Because of these safety and health citations, the company was fined nearly $94,000 in repeat violations and another $78,000 in serious violations. The serious violations come indicate there was a high probability that serious injury or even death could have resulted from these specific hazards in which an employer probably knew or should have known about. The other half of the safety and health citations, the repeat violations, are filed by inspectors when a company has already previously been cited for the same or a similar violation within the last five years.
“We’ve focused on this industry because establishments primarily engaged in ship- and boat-building and repair…have higher-than-average injury and illness rates,” said William Coffin, OSHA’s Maine area director.
This recent safety and health inspection was all a part of the Administration’s effort to encourage employees to enact and enforce a sustained, effective, proactive and ongoing safety campaign aimed at workplace dangers and making the changes to eliminate these hazards.
The New England company now has 15 business days from the date of the citations to either comply, meet with an OSHA director or completely appeal the findings.
Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers LLC is a group of experienced and knowledgeable workers’ compensation lawyers who are dedicated to fighting for the rights of workers who have been injured on the job in the Greater Boston Area and elsewhere throughout the state. Call (617) 777-7777 to schedule a free consultation.
More Blog Entries:
Work Accidents in Massachusetts and Elsewhere a Top Concern for OSHA and ASSE, Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, April 6, 2012
Fatal New England Work Accident Lands Company with Nearly $200,000 in Fines, Massachusetts Workers Compensation Lawyers Blog, March 27, 2012