Fiber Cement Company Cited for Workplace Safety Violations
OSHA cites Nichiha USA Inc. for almost $140,000 in proposed safety violation fines
Fiber Cement Company Nichiha USA Inc.’s Macon, GA plant has been cited by OSHA for $138,600 in fines for alleged safety violations, according to a press release from OSHA. The company has been cited for four repeat and three serious safety violations after OSHA completed an inspection in September 2013 due to a worker complaint. Due to several inspections, the company has been placed in OSHA’s Sever Violator Enforcement Program.
The repeat violations ($117,810 in proposed fines) include failure to provide workers with training on an energy control program when servicing equipment, failure to use a group lockout procedure to prevent equipment startup and failure to include all confined spaces in the employer’s workplace evaluation. The company also failed to use a specific written energy control procedure for an area where employees cleaned debris. The company was cited for these same violations in 2009 and has been inspected by OSHA six times since 2009.
The serious violations ($20,790 in proposed fines) include failure to conduct annual inspections of energy control procedures, exposing workers to caught-in hazards by not locking out all equipment and not accounting for all workers before removing locks and energizing equipment that was undergoing maintenance. For more information, visit OSHA.gov.