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

cited Republic Steel for four safety and health violations, comprised of two repeat and two

serious violations. They come in response to an inspection of a mill in Lorain, Ohio, in

December of 2014. This inspection was initiated after the agency received a report that a worker

fell from a height or about 12 feet. These violations carry proposed penalties of $111,500.

“Republic Steel has made tremendous strides in its workplace safety and health programs. The

company has corrected the safety issues cited in this inspection and reviewed its training

programs to ensure safety procedures are followed,” said Kimberly Nelson, OSHA’s Area

Director in Toledo. “This incident demonstrates that the company must remain vigilant in

protecting workers from falls and machinery hazards.”

The two repeat violations were for: exposing workers to fall hazards of about 12 feet while

working in a large steel forming machine and failing to ensure machinery would not

unexpectedly operate during service and maintenance. The company was cited for these hazards

at the same facility in 2014. The two serious violations were for improper crane operations and

failing to inspect chain slings annually.

As you can see, OSHA inspectors will not only inspect areas of your occupational safety and

health plan for which your company has previously been cited, if it has been, but will also do a

full inspection to find additional violations. So it is important to make sure your entire

occupational safety and health program is in compliance, especially if you have previously been

inspected by OSHA. If you are having trouble ensuring that everything is up to code, please

contact an occupational safety and health third party auditing firm to assist you.

If you have any questions about third party safety audits or about this case, please contact us. If

you want to add anything about the importance of third party safety audits, please leave a

comment.