OSHA fines Ashley Furniture $1.77 million

[MinneapolisMatt]

OSHA finds 1,000 injuries in three years, says Wisconsin plant has history of safety violations.

The U.S. Labor Department socked Ashley Furniture with one of the largest safety fines in history Monday after alleging repeated safety violations over 36 months that caused more than 1,000 worker injuries, including several ­amputated fingers.

The $1.77 million fine resulted from an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection last year of Ashley’s ­Arcadia, Wis., factory. Inspectors “identified 12 willful, 12 repeated and 14 serious safety violations.” Those are in addition to violations found during previous visits, U.S. Labor Department Assistant Secretary David Michaels told the Star Tribune on Monday.

“We rarely issue a fine that is more than $1 million,” Michaels said. “Having 1,000 work injuries in three years is proof positive that safety in this plant needs tremendous ­improvement.”

All the injuries were serious and “required more than first aid,” he said.

More:
http://www.startribune.com/business/290552161.html



Big Scott Walker donors...surprise, surprise...

[NaturalHigh]

1. Whoa! That's a pretty hard punch there.

I didn't know OSHA got that tough any more.

[Sherman A1]

2. Super!

It should have been much more.