Costly Consequences for OSHA Violations

Penalty costs from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are mounting for some employers across the country following repeat violations and failing to comply with subpoenas. 

The following examples serve as a reminder to heed warnings from OSHA in a timely fashion, and implement changes to workflow when asked to do so. 

$1M Settlement 

Aluminum Shapes LLC of New Jersey will pay $1 million in penalties as part of a legal settlement following long-standing worker safety and health violations. 

The company accepted dozens of citations as part of the settlement in two OSHA cases.

The cases involve a deadly incident and a series of other workplace injuries employees experienced at the company’s plant in Delair. 

The company agreed to adopt enhanced abatement measures and implement more employee training as part of the settlement.

Those measures include developing a comprehensive safety and health plan, and retaining a full-time safety professional with demonstrated experience in lockout/tagout and confined space compliance.

$30K Subpoena Penalty 

In Massachusetts, a U.S. District Court judge ordered UHS of Fuller Inc. and UHS of Delaware Inc. to pay the Department of Labor more than $30,000 in attorney fees after OSHA issued a subpoena for documents and it was ignored. 

The court asserted the company’s objection to providing the documents was “without justification,” and their stonewalling should be penalized. 

The subpoena was part of a 2019 workplace violence inspection at a Massachusetts behavioral health facility that the company operated. As part of the subpoena, the company was ordered to hand over video footage of workplace violence incidents involving employees. 

The department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor petitioned the court to enforce the subpoena for the video after the company failed to comply with the request.