Amtech Southeast in Elmore, Alabama, continues to expose workers to fire and explosion hazards

Employer name: Amtech Southeast LLC

Inspection site:  1142 Highway 14, Elmore, Alabama

Citations issued: On Jan.07, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Amtech Southeast two repeated and one serious safety citation. 

Investigation findings: Following an inspection at Amtech Southeast, OSHA issued repeated citations for exposing workers to fire and explosion hazards by improperly storing oxygen and acetylene cylinders together, as well as for failing to properly label the containers that acetone was stored in with the chemical name and hazard warnings. The company was issued citations for similar violations in February 2014. The serious violation was cited for allowing unsecured compressed gas cylinders to be stored near an entrance.

Proposed penalties: $50,000

Quote: “Amtech Southeast continues to expose workers to hazards that were previously identified by inspectors. There is no reason we should be finding these hazards again,” said Joe Roesler, OSHA’s area director in Mobile. “Employers have a legal obligation to ensure workers have a safe and healthy workplace, and those who fail to do so will be held accountable.”

The citations can be viewed at: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20152376fs.pdf

Amtech Southeast is a division of Dynamic Fabrications that produces fiber-reinforced plastic components. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Mobile Area Office at 251-441-6131.