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OSHA Cites Auburn Metal Processing for Safety Violations

02/22/2008 - OSHA cites Auburn Metal Processing for a total of 22 alleged serious and repeat violations of safety standards following the death of an employee who became caught in a conveyor belt.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Auburn, N.Y., based Auburn Metal Processing LLC for a total of 22 alleged serious and repeat violations of safety standards following the Nov. 6, 2007, death of an employee who became caught in a conveyor belt. The facility is facing $44,100 in proposed fines.
 

OSHA defines a serious violation as an existing condition where there is a substantial possibility that death or serious physical harm could result.
 
OSHA issues repeat citations when an employer has previously been cited for a substantially similar hazard and those citations have become final.
OSHA's inspection found that conveyors and other machinery at the scrap metal recycling plant lacked adequate guarding to prevent employee contact with moving parts, and that hardware and procedures to lock out their power sources to prevent startup while employees worked on them were not supplied and used. The conveyors also lacked start-up alarms to warn employees.

"It's imperative that these safeguards be promptly, completely and effectively implemented to prevent this sort of accident from occurring again," said Christopher Adams, OSHA's Area Director in Syracuse.

Other hazards identified by OSHA's inspection included no program to regulate entry into permit-required confined spaces; the use of damaged forklift trucks; an uninspected and improperly maintained crane; damaged electrical cords; ungrounded electrical equipment; inadequate fire protection where flammable liquids were stored; and lack of reflective clothing for employees exposed to vehicular traffic after dark.

As a result of its inspection, OSHA issued the plant 16 serious citations, with $23,100 in fines.

OSHA also issued the plant six repeat citations, with $21,000 in fines, for hazards similar to those cited during an earlier OSHA inspection. These included lack of backup alarms on loaders; failing to replenish spent fire extinguishers; unguarded open-sided floors and platforms; missing stair rails; improperly maintained air cleaning hoses; and additional instances of unguarded machinery.

Auburn Metal Processing has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to request and participate in an informal conference with OSHA or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.