06/22/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/22/2021 13:54
TOCCOA, GA -With the holiday fast approaching, a 56-year-old worker at a Toccoa plastic processing facility could never have known he would spend Christmas Day in a hospital and die from a head injury after falling more than 6 feet from an elevated platform.
An inspection of the Dec. 21, 2020, incident by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administrationfound that while Scrap Masters Inc. had installed some fall protection on the platform, it failed to meet federal safety standards. OSHA cited the company for failing to equip stairs and platforms with guardrails to prevent falls.
In addition, OSHA determined that the employer failed to:In all, OSHA cited Scrap Masters with eight serious and five repeat violations, and proposed $164,308 in penalties.
'When employers fail to put safety programs in place, the results can be fatal,' said OSHA Acting Area Director Michael Hejazi in Atlanta-East. 'Implementing required safety procedures can mean the difference between a tragic incident and everyone going home safely to their families.'
Scrap Masters Inc. recycles plastic automobile gas tanks and has a sister office in Manchester, Michigan. OSHA has inspected the company five times in the past five years, with four of the inspections occurring in the Toccoa facility. Of those four inspections, three resulted in citations issued.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.