Safety hazards persist at Indiana shipyard

Employer name: Corn Island Shipyard Inc., Grandview, Indiana

Citations issued: Sept. 28, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Indianapolis Area Office cited the company for five repeated, 14 serious and three other-than-serious safety and health violations, as a result of a March 2015 follow-up inspection.

Inspectors found workers exposed to similar hazards to those cited in September 2013, including a lack of machine safety procedures, missing railings on platforms and surfaces, and use of damaged powered industrial vehicles.

Serious violations include:

• Use of unsafe aerial lifts and cranes.
• Fall hazards.
• Improper handling of compress gas cylinders, flammable and combustible materials.
• Not having a trained shipyard rescue team.

Quote: "Workers' safety matters. By continuing to operate unsafe equipment Corn Island Shipyard is demonstrating to their employees that their safety is not a priority and that is simply unacceptable," said Vanessa Martin, OSHA's area director in Indianapolis. "This company needs to make immediate improvements to its safety procedures for equipment, elevated platforms, fall protection and other hazards to ensure workers are protected on the job."

Proposed Penalties: $119,700

View Citations:

• http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151890a.pdf
• http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151890b.pdf