Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have identified 21 safety violations at Tubular Products Company's steel tubing manufacturing facility in
"OSHA is proposing $44,450 in penalties against the plant for jeopardizing the safety of Tubular Products' 150 employees," said Roberto Sanchez, director of OSHA's Birmingham Area Office.
The inspection was performed as part of OSHA's Site-Specific Targeting program. The program directs enforcement resources to workplaces where the highest rates of injuries and illness have occurred based on data received from the prior year's OSHA Data Initiative survey.
OSHA inspectors found 20 serious safety violations, including a number of instances where machine guards were not installed properly or were missing, which allowed employees to be caught and hurt by mechanical equipment. Fall hazards, electrical hazards and tripping hazards also were found at the manufacturing facility. Additionally, OSHA assessed one other-than-serious safety violation for the company's failure to properly label and identify chemicals used in the workplace.
The company has 15 working days to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
