OSHA issued 33 citations to the Parker Hannifin Corp. and fined the company $487,700 for numerous safety and health violations found during an inspection of its plant in Batesville, Miss. Parker Hannifin has 170 facilities throughout the country and manufactures machinery for hydraulics, air conditioning, refrigeration and aerospace systems.
OSHA issued 16 citations for repeat violations such as failing to protect workers by correcting electrical deficiencies, providing machine guarding, and attaching warning labels to hazardous chemicals. Parker Hannifin was previously cited for the same or similar violations during inspections at other company locations. OSHA also issued the company 17 citations for exposing workers to a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm from hazards including struck-by hazards due to a defective safety latch on a hoist and damaged hooks on an overhead crane and allowing unapproved electrical equipment to be used in a hazardous location where flammable chemicals were present."
This text was taken from the OSHA Quicktakes Newsletter (osha.gov). It caught my eye because obviously this company believes it is cheaper to pay the citations instead of investing this money in the necessary safety and health systems. Some of the violations are repeat violations which shows that this company already has performed poorly in the past. The citations and penalties that were issued then were apparently not sufficient to trigger a process of change.
Has OSHA lost its bite (again)? If monetary penalties are not enough, because half a million dollars is only peanuts to a company like Parker-Hannifin, what can be done to come down harder on those employers who neglect their duty and continue to operate as if they were still in the stone ages? Wasn't there talk about holding top management liable by taking them to a courtroom? I haven't heard too much about that lately. Or is this again a touchy political issue because Congress and Senate (or Democrats and Republicans) are more interested in having petty internal wars and don't focus on what keeps this country going - the people, the workers, the carpenters, the laborers, the technicians, the nurses, and and and.... Or is it because politicians have an active interest in companies and maybe get a little perk here and there, especially during election times?
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