Midland Davis Corp. has two weeks to appeal paying nearly $65,000 in fines for 19 safety violation citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
OSHA inspected the company’s Moline, Illinois scrap metal recycling center in April 2013 as part of a program that targets employers with a higher-than-average rate for worker injury and illness.
Midland Davis was cited for two repeat violations for failing to conduct periodic inspections of energy control procedures and for failing to train and evaluate each power industrial vehicle operator. They were cited for the same violation in April 2012 at the Midland Davis facility in Pekin, Illinois.
Midland Davis was cited for more than a dozen serious safety violations, including a lack of fall protection for workers on elevated platforms, lack of machine guarding and failure to removed damaged equipment from service. OSHA calls the violations “serious” when they have a substantial probability of resulting in death or serious injury.
“Failing to conduct periodic inspections and remove damaged equipment creates an atmosphere in which workers are vulnerable to injury on the job,” said Tom Bielema, OSHA’s area director in Peoria. “By failing to correct previous deficiencies, Midland Davis has demonstrated a lack of commitment to employee safety and health.”
Four other violations were issued to Midland Davis for failing to provide written certification of completion of hazard assessment, failing to provide safety information to employees who voluntarily use filtering face pieces, failing to ensure powered industrial vehicles were properly marked and failing to maintain inspection records for ropes on the locomotive crane.
Midland Davis has 15 business days after it receives the citations to officially contest them; otherwise they will be obligation to fix the problems and pay the proposed $64,860 in penalties.
