May 5, 2015
Inspection site: 501 Main St. Utica, New York 13501
Date inspections initiated: The Syracuse Area Office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened an inspection on March 3, 2015, under OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to high-hazard workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illnesses occur.
Investigation findings: The inspection found several hazardous conditions similar to those cited during OSHA inspections of company facilities in Binghamton and Manchester, New York, in 2010 and 2014. These included laceration and amputation hazards from inadequately guarded saw blades and crushing hazards from damaged and unsecured storage racks that could fail and drop materials on employees and from struck by hazards caused by improperly loaded forklift attachments.
Newly identified hazards included an exit door blocked by snow and other deficiencies that could prevent employees from exiting the workplace swiftly and safely in the event of a fire or other emergency; falls from a stairway that lacked a required safety railing; and slipping hazards from water on the shop floor. As a result of these conditions, OSHA cited Pacemaker Steel & Piping for three repeat and four serious violations of workplace health and safety standards.
Proposed Penalties: $45,500
Quote: “Left uncorrected, these hazards could cost employees their lives or their well-being. The fact that a number of these hazards are similar to those found during prior inspections shows that Pacemaker Steel must take additional and effective steps to adequately identify, eliminate and prevent future hazards at all its locations,” said Christopher Adams, OSHA’s area director in Syracuse.
Next: Pacemaker Steel & Piping Co. Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet informally with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report 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 Syracuse Area Office at 315- 451-0808.
