The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has

issued five citations against Matalco US, Inc. These citations come in response to a March 24,

2014 inspection. The citations carry proposed fines in the amount of $130,200.

“This company allowed workers to stand on blocks elevated by a forklift, and that’s just one

visible example of the total disregard for worker safety and health at this plant,” said Howard

Eberts, OSHA’s area director in Cleveland. “By placing Matalco US in our Severe Violator

Enforcement Program, OSHA is putting the company on notice that this is unacceptable.”

The citations were for exposure to amputation, fall hazards, and unsafe crane operations. The

amputation hazards were from a lack of adequate machine guarding on a robot cell. The fall

hazard was of more than 23 feet because there was no guardrails installed over an open pit. The

unsafe crane operations citation came as a result of a broken safety mechanism being a part of a

crane that was still in active use.

These hazards are in a number of different areas of occupational safety and health, providing an

excellent example of how OSHA inspectors perform their inspections: they do a true, full facility

inspection and will find violations across the board.

If you have any questions about this case or about your occupational safety and health policies

and procedures, please contact us. If you have anything to add about this case or about the

benefits of routinely updating your occupational safety and health procedures, please leave a

comment.