OSHA Proposes $2.78 Million Fine for Employee Death (42 willful, instance-by-instance citations)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: safety.blr.com

OSHA has proposed $2.78 million in penalties against Ohio-based Cintas Corp. following an inspection into the March 2007 employee death at the Cintas laundry facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The employee was killed when he fell into an operating industrial dryer while clearing a jam of wet laundry on a conveyor that carries the laundry from the washer into the dryer.

OSHA alleges 42 willful, instance-by-instance citations of the lockout/tagout standard for the failures to shut down and lock out power to the equipment before clearing jams. The violations also include the lack of training of four employees responsible for clearing jams. One repeat citation alleges the failure to protect employees from being struck or pinned by the conveyor. Three serious citations allege the failures to protect employees from falls, have a qualified person inspect the lockout/tagout procedures, and certify the procedures as required.

"Plant management at the Cintas Tulsa laundry facility ignored safety and health rules that could have prevented the death of this employee," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke Jr.

In a separate case, OSHA also issued five repeat and two serious citations with penalties totaling $117,500 for violations of the lockout/tagout and machine guarding standards found at the Cintas Columbus, Ohio, facility. OSHA also has opened investigations in Arkansas and Alabama. Washington, an OSHA State Plan state, has issued four citations with proposed fines totaling $13,650, alleging violations for similar hazards at the Yakima Cintas facility.



Read more: http://safety.blr.com/display.cfm/id/104346

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Cintas is also before the National Labor Relations Board again for illegal anti union tactics. Starbucks continues to use Cintas nationwide even after several groups have asked it to us a different linen supplier.

[Kagemusha]

1. Not a Republican Party supporter I guess?

You would think not, given the scale of the fine. (Yeah that's cynical, but looking at the Utah mine tragedy, I can't help but be.)

[Mnpaul]

3. You would have to ask HRC's campaign strategist

about that. Mark Penn is a slimeball. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/05/1682/

[Dr.Phool]

2. Of course they are republican party supporters.

But, they don't have to worry anyway. The guy who represents them and advises them in their anti-union tactics is Mark Penn. He's also Hillary Clinton's closest adviser. He was brought into the Clinton white house by good ole Dick Morris himself.

[TheMadMonk]

4. Just the price of doing business.

I doubt these fines will have much effect in the long term.

Fines against businesses should be large and should be scaled either to annual turnover or to the number of employees.


Or then there's the nasty approach that will really get them to take notice. If a violation is found. The shop stops dead until that violation is corrected, with a minimum down period of 24 hours and employees rostered on for that period to be paid in full and not to be penalised in any way during the down time.

The first hit is to their pockets, no money in and still money out. (It might not be a great deal, but wages ARE one of the expenses they begrudge the most.) And the second is to their reputation with their customers.

[Rosemary2205]

5. They'll never pay anything close to that

Typically OSHA fines are later negotiated to less that 10% of the big sounding fine that was publicized and it all quietly goes away. Yet even if they paid the full fine it would be a small cost to Cintas.