Metal stamper and storage rack manufacturer Big 3 Precision Products Inc acknowledged five federal safety violations including a willful one for allowing employees to stand or pass under the elevated tynes of a forklift.
"Employees performing weld inspection and completing necessary welds while under a rack elevated by a Caterpillar 2P5000 forklift were exposed to struck-by hazards, and the employer failed to ensure employees did not stand under the elevated portion of a powered industrial truck," says the citation from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Big 3 and the OSHA office in Fairview Heights, Illinois reached an informal settlement on 20 May, with the company agreeing to pay penalties and make concessions to improve employee safety at its Centralia manufacturing facility. The company did not contest the findings that emerged from OSHA inspections in March.
"Employers that allow workers to stand or pass under elevated forklifts expose them to dangerous struck-by hazards," says Aaron Priddy, OSHA's area director in Fairview Heights. "Injuries involving machinery and equipment often result in death or permanent disability." Consolidation of the violations reduced Big 3's penalties to a total of USD30,690 from the original proposed amount of USD63,000.
Among the concessions, Big 3 agreed to have a third-party consultant perform a comprehensive safety and health inspection of the worksite prior to 30 August, establish a joint labour-management safety and health committee to identify and mitigate workplace hazards and provide additional industry safety training to Big 3's safety and health manager.
In April 2013, OSHA cited Big 3 in Centralia for two serious violations for failing to follow forklift safety standards. Big 3 paid USD3,000 at that time.
Big 3 is based in Centralia, where it employs about 150 people. The firm also operates other facilities in Holliston, Massachusetts; St. Joseph, Missouri; and Millville, New Jersey.
Private equity firm TVV Capital of Nashville, Tennessee acquired Big 3 in 2012.
OSHA is an agency of the US Department of Labor.