August 21, 2002—A West Virginia metal manufacturer’s high rate of injuries and illnesses among employees prompted an OSHA inspection that revealed serious and potentially life-threatening hazards for the workers, the agency announced August 9, 2002. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found 23 safety and health violations at the company’s Parkersburg site and proposed penalties of $288,000.
OSHA found that the Louis Berkman Partnership, doing business as Dover Parkersburg, exposed its workers to a range of hazards by failing to provide proper machine guarding, training, and personal protective equipment. The company employs approximately 900 workers, including 46 at the Parkersburg facility. It produces galvanized steel trashcans, pails, mobile home skirting, and funnels.
The citations are the result of a comprehensive safety and health inspection that began on February 15, 2002. The facility came to OSHA’s attention through the agency’s Site-Specific Targeting program, which identifies facilities with injury and illness rates higher than national averages. The company’s lost workday injury and illness rates (LWDII) were higher than the industry average of 10.3. (LWDII rates are numbers of injuries or illnesses resulting in lost workdays or restricted activity for every 100 full-time workers).
OSHA issued five alleged willful instance-by-instance citations and 18 alleged serious violations. A willful violation is defined as one committed with an intentional disregard of or plain indifference to the requirements of the OSH Act and regulations. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard.
