Domestic Casting Co. LLC, an iron foundry in Shippensburg, PA, has been cited for a total of 27 workplace health and safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, citations which carry total penalties of $152,912.00. It is the eighth time since 2011 that Domestic Casting has been investigated, cited, and fined by OSHA for violations that include fall hazards, machine guarding hazards, and sling hazards.
The citations were issued in January, and Domestic Castings was allowed 15 days to comply with the citations, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings.
"This company continues to ignore its employees' safety by exposing them to dangers, including falls and hazards associated with lifting heavy loads. Domestic Casting must take immediate action to remove these hazards to protect workers from the risk of serious injury and possible death," stated OSHA area director Kevin Kilp.
Domestic Casting Co. produces gray and ductile iron castings up to 500 lb., and is an operating unit of a holding company (also known as Domestic Casting) that has other foundry operations in Indiana and Ohio.
The accumulation of violations found in multiple inspections resulted in the Shippensburg, PA, foundry being placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program after an inspection discovered it again failed to protect workers from electrical hazards and properly guard pits.
In addition, OSHA cited the foundry for exposing maintenance workers to the risk of dangerous falls by failing to provide fall protection, and by not properly guarding platforms. Also, it failed to mark chain slings used to lift heavy loads to identify size, grade, capacity, and reach. These are listed as “willful” violations —meaning, a violation committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with indifference to worker safety and health. The penalty for these violations is $52,350.
Other violations concern Domestic Casting’s lockout/tagout procedures, respiratory protection programs, and electrical, fall, and machine guard hazards. These accounted for 12 repeat violations —meaning the employer has been cited for the same or similar violations in the past five years, at the same location or any other location in federal enforcement states. Domestic Casting was cited for these same violations in 2011, 2012, and 2013, and the current penalty is $76,692.
Finally, OSHA proposed a $23,870 penalty for eight serious violations involving unguarded machinery, forklift, struck-by and electrical hazards, and fire extinguishers not maintained. Serious violations are any hazardous circumstance from which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and about which the employer knew or should have known.
There were five more citations for “other than serious safety and health violations” but these involved no monetary penalty.
>> This is a revised version of an earlier report.