Federal regulators today proposed fines totaling $123,000 against International Paper’s Augusta mill and issued 37 proposed citations relating to safety inspections performed after a February accident in which an employee was killed by a timber-loading crane.
According to Mike Wald, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Atlanta, the company is being cited with one serious violation for running the crane with an inoperable warning device such as a horn or whistle.
The company is also charged with a serious violation for allowing employees to work near machinery that lacked guards or barriers. OSHA issues a “serious” citation when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
On Feb. 2, Bill Drake, 66, was struck by the metal cage of the timber-loading crane as he attempted to clear wood debris along train tracks. He had been a plant employee for 43 years.
A comprehensive inspection by OSHA staff revealed 26 additional serious safety violations, including fall hazards, lack of machine guards, a missing safety latch, missing emergency lighting, poor and missing emergency signage and electrical hazards.
Six serious health violations were identified, including dust accumulation, lack of safety information for hazardous chemicals and equipment, missing emergency eyewash stations, failure to perform annual respirator fit tests and failure to use safer medical devices.
OSHA has proposed $123,000 in penalties against the company, which has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
The plant is also being given three citations that carry no monetary penalties for failing to evaluate powered industrial truck operators, not securely mounting electrical equipment, and failing to include a change schedule for cartridges used to protect workers from multiple gases.
“The large number of serious violations found at this single facility signals management’s failure to take seriously their responsibility for the safety and health of their workforce,” said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office, in a news release issued today.
According to a searchable online OSHA database, the plant on Mike Padgett Highway has a good safety record with no reported serious accidents during the past five years.
Since 2004, the plant was inspected twice in response to complaints, the records show. One inspection in 2005 yielded fines totaling $4,250 – including a $500 fine for a minor violation and a $5,000 fine for a “serious” violation involving “guarding floor and wall openings” that was later settled for $3,750.
A 2008 inspection yielded no fines or violations.
Company officials are continuing to review OSHA's findings, said spokeswoman Kimberly Gill.
"The mill received a citation from OSHA today and is in the process of reviewing the findings," she said. "A meeting will be scheduled with OSHA to discuss in further detail."
She said the company cooperated fully with OSHA throughout the inquiry and has addressed most of the agency's findings.
"The additional knowledge and insight provided by OSHA will be helpful to us as we continue our ongoing commitment to ensuring our mill is a safe place to work," she said.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
What about their OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) status. Does International Paper get to keep it? It's a highly prized safety achievement in the industry. It allows industry to essentially police their own safety.
Looks like OSHA needs to look at their own. No violations in '08 but they slam IP AFTER a worker is killed. I'll bet a dollar to a donut that crane wasn't any safer in '08 than it was in February. Add 123K to the civil lawsuit (I'm sure there's going to be one now), it's going to hurt IP, but it was self inflicted. They need to start thinking about their workers. TG I work for a company that does.
And the plant manager got a big promotion last month.
The mill spent 6 weeks and untold hundreds of thousands of dollars getting the plant ready for the inspection. I can't imagine what the fine would have been otherwise.
They should be fined for making Augusta smell like rotten eggs.
fines , you people are in their pocket , you charge them 10 bucks when if you really took their money , they would not only stay safe . but also not pour crap in our river./ fine them 12,000 bucks when they can make 120,000 even after paying the fines. we are not all fools !
this will not be the first time nor the last...
HillGuy, I like that I can smell the rain coming here :)
The plant manager got a lateral transfer. OSHA inspected many areas of the plant initially following the accident and then came back to see that all the fixes were done. The fines were for the initial time, I believe. It's my understanding that it was human error, not equipment, which caused this tragic accident. That's not to say there weren't violations, obviously, but I heard other circumstances played a bigger part.
A small price to pay for a mans life.
This is only a microscosm. International Paper as a whole is a travesty. They kill more employees every year than any other company in America year after year after year. They should be shut down for good if they are not going to take health, safety, and environmental issues seriously. OSHA is a joke for letting them continue to operate.
I spent thirteen years at that mill. Like any other large, industial site, it is a dangerous place. Even more so, because of some of the processes and chemical reactions needed to make paper. Cooking wood chips in Drain-o is why it stinks, HillGuy. I've been on that crane, around that crane, and in the crane. I still don't know how the accident happened, unless both of the warning sirens were out of service. If that is the case, then everything and more should be thrown at them. International Paper destroyed the reputation and family feel, that Federal Paper Board took so long to create. But really, Ode, wherre do you get the statistics that show "they kill more employees"?? I don't believe it.
Then look it up ripjones.
Why don't you show me where you found this tidbit of information?? Can't find it with Google or Ask. Don't put things in print that you cannot verify !!
How many ppl does Intl paper employ? It is hardly the top employer in the area. The medical community employs far more people, and last time I checked, they didn't pollute our air and water and make the entire southside of town smell like [filtered word]. I think when you tally it up, this plant probably harms the local economy more than it helps. That's why usually the papers mills are forced to locate in podunk areas that have nothing else to base their economies on.
That area used to be in the middle of nowhere. That's probably why it was located where it is.
The Ode, you have your facts wrong. I have worked at this mill for over 20 years and this is the first death that I can recall. I think a contractor had a heart attack and died but it was not work related.
There is a reason why the southside is not as developed as the westside or north augusta.. most people don't want the air they breathe to smell like farts.
You people are so clueless. This mill has been in operation since 1961. They have pumped billions into your podunk economy. You morons need to realize that every job lost affect 4 other jobs. They employ 800 people. Do the math. They adhere to enviromental policies set in place by your government and even go a step farther by implementing most before they are made into law. The smell hurts nobody, it's not toxic and if you don't like it MOVE! There was more human error involved in this accident than anything else. I too have worked there for over 20 years and been around and even driven that crane. I also knew the man killed very well. It was a tragic accident and a man lost his life. It was an accident though. The mill's safety record speaks for itself....