Thursday, July 16, 2015

Steel fabricator continues to endanger workers, OSHA finds. Steel Fabrication Services cited for 14 violations; faces $188K in fines

July 16, 2015

Steel fabricator continues to endanger workers, OSHA finds.
  Steel Fabrication Services cited for 14 violations; faces $188K in fines

DALLAS, TEXAS

A local steel fabricator continues to put its workers in harm's way, despite its awareness of hazards at its Farmers Branch facility, and a recent federal inspection that found more than a dozen safety violations.

U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspectors cited Steel Fabrication Services Inc. for two willful, six repeated and six serious violations in a follow-up inspection. They found the company continued to expose workers to unguarded machinery, improperly stored oxygen cylinders and other safety and health hazards. The company faces proposed penalties totaling $188,760.

"When an employer ignores hazards in the workplace, workers often suffer the consequences. OSHA will not tolerate such negligence," said Stephen Boyd, OSHA's area director in the Dallas Area Office. "Employers must find and fix hazards. In this case, Steel Fabrication has chosen to continue to expose workers to hazards willfully. OSHA will continue to pursue corrections to ensure that these workers are safe." 

Begun in January, the inspection was a follow-up visit for citations issued in February 2014. At that time, OSHA identified five serious violations involving the lack of protective guards for dangerous machines, unsafe storage of compressed gas cylinders and electrical hazards. Steel Fabrication did not respond to the citations and failed to provide OSHA with documentation that the problems had been addressed, as required by law. 

View the citations at: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/SteelFabricationServicesInc_1019418.pdf* and http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/SteelFabricationServicesInc_1019221.pdf*.

Based in the Dallas Metroplex, Steel Fabrication manufactures fabricated parts, weldments and finished products in carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum and other materials. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Dallas Area Office at 972-952-1330.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. 

OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov .