Here comes the Appeal!
Friday, Jul. 31, 2009
Subcontractor will appeal fines from fatal Robins accident
ASM-Sanders Inc. notified the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health and Safety Administration earlier this week that it will appeal the nearly $80,000 in fines levied by the Georgia Department of Labor in connection with a March 5 fatal accident at Robins Air Force Base. Jacky S. Brown, an ASM-Sanders subcontractor, died when a water pipe exploded while he was working on a construction project on the base.
The company was notified of OHSA’s decision July 16. It had 15 days to appeal the fines before the judgment became final.
Phone calls Thursday to ASM-Sanders regarding the accident were not returned.
The company is accused of allowing employees to work in a nearly six-foot deep trench without any reinforcement to keep the ditch from caving in, as well as three other minor safety violations. The citation that noted the lack of a ditch reinforcement was labeled a willful violation by OSHA and it alone carried a $63,000 fine.
The appeals process now goes to OHSA’s solicitor’s office, who will then file a formal complaint against the company. ASM-Sanders, if it follows form, will formally respond to the complaint. “Most of the time, the parties are trying to settle,” said G.T. Breezley, spokesman for the OHSA Atlanta-East Area office.
If no settlement is reached, the case will be adjudicated by the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
“About 95 percent of them are settled out of court,” Breezley said.
To contact military writer Thomas L. Day, call 744-4489.
Will Company Officials be penalized for Directives to Safety Inspector?
There is a worse violation that is noted in this article. That being the instructions of Company Management to the Safety Inspector to KEEP QUIET and/or FALSIFY SAFETY Reports. That is just plain Perjury on the Company's Management's instructions.
Not only are these Management personnel violating Federal Law, this type personnel are a major cause of Donkey and Management attitudes to try to "get around" OSHA regulations to save a penny at the fatal cost of their workers. This company should be prosecuted to the full extent of the Law. There is NO Horse Sense in this type management.
Robins contractor cited for safety violations; fined nearly $80,000
The U.S. Department of Labor cited ASM-Sanders Inc., an Alabama-based contractor that provides construction support for Robins Air Force Base, for worker safety violations after a March accident killed one worker. Jacky S. Brown died March 5 from a severe blow to the head after a chilled water pipe exploded.
According to the Department of Labor, Brown and his co-workers were testing a water pipe by filling it with compressed air, disregarding the manufacturer’s recommendation that the pipe instead be tested with liquids.The company also was cited for employing workers in a 5-foot-6-inch trench without means of egression and without protection from a possible cave-in.
The latter was cited as a “willful violation” of employee safety and carried with it a $63,000 fine.
In total, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hit ASM-Sanders with four safety violations and nearly $80,000 in fines.
A spokeswoman from ASM-Sanders refused to comment on the citation.
The company may appeal the fines to OSHA within 15 business days, though the company is ordered to correct the violations by today.
After Brown’s death, a former ASM-Sanders safety inspector told OSHA that he was ordered by his superiors to falsify safety reports. “I was told to keep quiet and that was the way we would handle all accidents,” Mike Hill said in the letter dated May 5, 2009.
Hill claims he was fired the day he faxed his letter to OSHA.
The company also was cited for employing workers in a 5-foot-6-inch trench without means of egression and without protection from a possible cave-in.The latter was cited as a “willful violation” of employee safety and carried with it a $63,000 fine.
In total, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hit ASM-Sanders with four safety violations and nearly $80,000 in fines.
A spokeswoman from ASM-Sanders refused to comment on the citation.
The company may appeal the fines to OSHA within 15 business days, though the company is ordered to correct the violations by today.
After Brown’s death, a former ASM-Sanders safety inspector told OSHA that he was ordered by his superiors to falsify safety reports. “I was told to keep quiet and that was the way we would handle all accidents,” Mike Hill said in the letter dated May 5, 2009.
Hill claims he was fired the day he faxed his letter to OSHA.
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