OSHA cites Warren Railcar Services Inc. for exposing employees to more than two dozen safety and health hazards

Employer name: Warren Railcar Services Inc., 51 Railcar St., Warren, Pennsylvania

Citations issued: On Feb. 8, 2016, The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for 25 serious, and one other-than-serious safety and health violations.

Investigation findings: OSHA inspectors cited the company for numerous hazards, including:

• Employees exposed to fall hazards as high as 14 feet.
• Lack of machine guards.
• Lack of proper personal protection equipment for welders that was maintained in good shape.
• The company’s failure to inspect overhead cranes and electrical equipment.
• Lack of necessary safety training.
• Poor housekeeping that exposed employees to various hazards from tripping and falling to ingestion of toxic metals.

Proposed penalties: $58,200

Quote: “Railcar repair work is dangerous; however, all of the hazards identified during this inspection leave Warren Railcar Services employees vulnerable to an increased risk of serious injury and possible death,” said Theresa Naim, director of the OSHA’s Erie Area Office.  “Employers have a duty to create a safe and healthy workplace for their workers.  Failure to do so is unacceptable.”

View the citations: https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/WarrenRailcarServiceInc_1086043_1086059_02_05_16.pdf.

The company, which repairs railcars from the salt mining industry, has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal 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 Erie Area Office at (814) 874-5150.