OSHA imposes additional fines against Mass. firm

BRAINTREE, Mass. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Tuesday that it is proposing an additional $39,200 in fines against a North Attleboro stone fabricator for allegedly failing to correct previous citations.
In a news release, the department said that OSHA first cited Mountain Marble and Granite in February, imposing $5,200 in fines for six “serious violations.” According to the release, those violations include: lack of respiratory protection and hazard communication programs for employees exposed to silica and other hazardous substances; untrained forklift operators; a forklift that was improperly modified to fit stone slabs; and unguarded cutting wheels on a stone grinder.
The company paid the fine, but has failed to show OSHA proof that it has corrected the violations, the release said. OSHA conducted a follow-up investigation in June and found several violations still outstanding. Consequently, OSHA has now cited Mountain for five instances of failing to remedy the outlined violations.
“The ongoing failure to fix these hazards leaves employees continually exposed to potential lung disease, crushing hazard, lacerations and amputations,” said Robert Hooper, OSHA’s acting area director for southeastern Massachusetts, in the release. “It should not take escalating fines and the potential for additional injuries and illnesses to prompt this employer to provide and maintain essential and legally required safeguards for its employees.”
Mountain has 15 days to respond to Tuesday’s request by requesting an informal conference with Hooper or by contesting the citations and fines to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.