US Department of Labor's OSHA cites Shippensburg foundry for repeat safety violations; OSHA fines total $163,240

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Domestic Casting Co. LLC has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 26 alleged safety violations found at its Shippensburg foundry. The company faces $163,240 in proposed penalties for seven repeat, 16 serious, and three other-than-serious safety violations. OSHA initiated an inspection in August 2012 in response to a complaint.

"Compromising worker safety will not be tolerated. Domestic Casting continues to put its workers at risk of serious injury or possible death by not addressing and correcting these hazards," said Kevin Kilp, director of OSHA's Harrisburg Area Office. "Employers that fail to uphold their responsibility to protect workers and provide a safe and healthful workplace will be held accountable."

Carrying a $90,860 penalty, the repeat violations included open-sided floors and platforms that were not guarded with standard railings and other safety features; permanent, durable identification was not affixed to alloy steel slings; pulleys were not properly guarded; sprocket wheels and chains were not enclosed; electrical hazards; and pull and junction boxes and fittings were not provided with approved covers. The company was cited for similar violations in 2011 and 2013. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

The serious violations, with a $72,380 penalty, include:

• Workers exposed to struck-by, fall, amputation, electrical and tripping hazards.
• Employees operating unrepaired cranes.
• Lack of frequent and periodic inspections performed on cranes, and lacking certification records of inspections.
• Platforms without standard railings and flights of stairs unequipped with at least one handrail.
• Employees accessing different structure levels without fixed stairs and ladders.
• Failing to ensure that loads transported by forklifts were secure.
• Rated load not plainly marked on each side of a crane, and pendant control boxes not clearly marked with identification of functions.
• No preventive maintenance program based on the crane manufacturer's recommendation.
• Fixed ladders were not installed with appropriate clearance space in the path of travel.

A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

The other-than-serious violations, with no penalty, were due to stair rails without an immediate rail and damaged equipment parts. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

Domestic Casting Co. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Harrisburg, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Harrisburg Area Office at 717-782-3902.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.