CWS 3.0: November 19, 2014

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OSHA cites manufacturer for serious, repeat violations

The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Tenneco Automotive Operating Co. Inc., an automotive parts manufacturer, for 27 safety and health violations following a May 2014 inspection at its plant in Hartwell, Ga. Elite Logistic Service Inc., a staffing agency that provided more than 100 temporary employees to the facility, was also cited for one serious safety violation. Proposed penalties total $342,250.

Lake Forest, Ill.-based Tenneco manufactures transportation components and has more than 80 facilities on six continents. Tenneco has been cited in the past and has been placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program for “demonstrating indifference to its OSH Act obligations to provide a safe and healthful workplace for employees.”

Tenneco was cited for eight repeat violations, carrying $242,550 in penalties. Among the violations:

  • exposing workers to slip and fall hazards due to soiled and slippery welding oils on floors;
  • failing to protect workers from moving machine parts during service and maintenance;
  • neglecting to protect employees from dangerous equipment with required guarding; and
  • storing oxygen and acetylene cylinders improperly.

The company was cited for these same violations in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

“The high number of repeat violations of the same or similar hazards demonstrates that this employer is not concerned with protecting its permanent or temporary employees from occupational dangers,” said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “Fixing a hazard once, but allowing it to creep back into the workplace, shows that management has priorities other than running an effective safety and health program.” 

OSHA also cited Tenneco for 19 other violations, 16 of them serious, with $93,400 in penalties. A serious violation is a hazard the employer knows or should have known about that exposes workers to substantial probability of death or serious physical harm.

Elite Logistic Service, Tenneco’s staffing provider, was cited for failure to remove its employees from exposure to unguarded pallet tippers, with a penalty of $6,300.