Central Transport agrees to pay $165,400 in penalties and to improve forklift safety at over 100 terminals in 26 states.

December 7, 2016

Central Transport agrees to enhanced safety measures
at over 100 freight terminals in US Labor Department settlement
Company-wide forklift hazards to be corrected, safety protocols improved

BOSTON - For several years, inspections by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified a disturbing pattern of use of defective and unsafe forklifts.  Their use exposed employees to hazards that could cause crushing or struck-by injuries at multiple locations, including Central Transport's Billerica terminal.

The department filed a complaint with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission in 2015, seeking an order to require Central Transport to remove damaged, defective and unsafe forklifts and other powered industrial trucks from service at all the company's locations. Now, the department has secured a settlement agreement which commits the company to improving forklift safety at over 100 terminals in 26 states.

"These widespread, recurring hazards required a comprehensive solution," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "This settlement includes detailed steps and a timetable for Central Transport to systematically review, assess and improve safety for its employees at all its locations that come under OSHA's jurisdiction. Other employers with hazards at multiple worksites should take heed of this settlement and recognize the value of implementing comprehensive and effective corrective action to protect the workers, life and limb."

"We stated when we filed the complaint that safety cannot be addressed in a piecemeal fashion when employees are exposed to hazards at multiple company worksites. With this settlement, Central Transport has committed to taking proactive, ongoing and effective action to identify and eliminate these hazards and improve safety for its workers across the country," said Michael Felsen, the department's regional solicitor of labor in Boston.

The agreement requires Central Transport to hire an independent third party monitor to evaluate, update and improve the company's existing procedures for preventive maintenance repairs, operator inspections and safe operation of powered industrial trucks.

Central Transport must also:

• Assign a corporate internal monitor to facilitate effective implementation of the settlement agreement, conduct random, unannounced visits of at least 20 terminals and work with the third party monitor to prepare and submit reports for each terminal assessed, seek employee feedback and monitor progress.
• Work with the third party monitor to assess and monitor compliance with the agreement and seek feedback from employees. This will include unannounced monitoring visits of at least 10 terminals by the third party monitor, including two terminals assessed by the internal monitor.
• Submit written compliance reports to OSHA and allow OSHA to conduct monitoring inspections to measure compliance.
• Remove any damaged, defective and unsafe powered industrial trucks from service.
• Pay a total of $165,400 in penalties.

The settlement covers Central Transport terminals in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. OSHA will notify those states that have assumed authority for enforcing OSHA standards in which Central Transport has terminals and encourage them to honor or agree to the terms of this settlement.

Based in Warren, Michigan, Central Transport operates almost 200 customer service centers nationwide. OSHA's Andover Area Office inspected the Billerica terminal. Scott M. Miller of the department's Regional Office of the Solicitor in Boston litigated the case for OSHA.

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).

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.

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A refrigerator and other electrical appliances are a potential source of the fire at a warehouse in Oakland that killed 36 people

Emergency crew stage at the site of a warehouse fire Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. (AP)

By PAUL ELIAS and JANIE HAR
Updated 1 hr 23 mins ago
OAKLAND, California -- Investigators honed in on a refrigerator and other electrical appliances as possible causes of the fire at a warehouse in Oakland that killed 36 people, as crews were set to finish their search for bodies.

The death toll in the most lethal building fire in the U.S. in more than a decade was not expected to go higher.

A refrigerator was a potential source of the fire, but it was too soon to say for sure, said Jill Snyder, special agent in charge of the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Photos: Victims in the Oakland warehouse fire








The full list of victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, Calif. are listed here, and will be updated as more victim names are released. (KGO-TV)

Snyder said investigators were looking at "anything electrical" on the first floor of the warehouse near the origin of the blaze.

"We have no indication that this was intentionally set," she said.

Tearful family members visited the scene Tuesday and exchanged hugs hours after the founder of the arts collective that used the warehouse stood near the gutted building and said he was "incredibly sorry."

Derick Ion Almena said he was at the site to put his face and his body in front of the scene, but he deflected blame for the blaze, saying he signed a lease for the building that "was to city standards supposedly."

"Everything that I did was to make this a stronger and more beautiful community and to bring people together," Almena told the "Today Show" on NBC.

The fire broke out during a dance party Friday night in the cluttered warehouse. It had been converted to artists' studios and illegal living spaces, and former denizens said it was a death trap of piled wood, furniture, snaking electrical cords and only two exits.

Almena did not respond to emails or calls to phone numbers associated with him by The Associated Press. He told San Jose television station KNTV that he didn't attend the event Friday night and that he and his wife had decided to stay at a hotel because he was exhausted.

City and state officials fielded years of complaints about dangerous conditions, drugs, neglected children, trash, thefts and squabbles at the warehouse, raising questions about why it wasn't shut down. The district attorney warned of possible murder charges as she determines whether there were any crimes linked to the blaze.

A building inspector who went to an Oakland warehouse on Nov. 17 after receiving a complaint of illegal interior construction left after being unable to get inside.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said late Tuesday the inspector followed procedure and later sent a request to the owner to gain entry. She did not reveal the outcome of that request.

Under the Oakland city code, building officials and fire marshals need court permission to enter commercial lodgings if the owner or manager refuses access.

Building inspectors typically cannot force entry to a property unless there are pressing circumstances, Schaaf said.

Crews had searched 90 percent of the building known as the "Ghost Ship" for bodies as of Tuesday and were expecting to complete the rest of the search by midnight. Fire officials started knocking down parts of the building that they said were structurally unsound.

Alameda County sheriff's Sgt. J.D. Nelson said that of the 36 victims found, 35 have been identified and 20 of their families have been notified. Officials are still lacking any type of identity for one person.

Stories of the victims' last minutes, meanwhile, emerged.

Alameda County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said that some of the victims texted relatives, "I'm going to die," and "I love you."

Rescue crews found bodies of people "protecting each other, holding each other," Kelly said.