Cavalier attitudes on the jobsite invariably lead to disaster. While it’s true that an efficient team is only as strong as its weakest player, that weak link can throw a kink into your chain of workflow operations. And who will be left to answer to OSHA safety inspectors in the wake of all this carnage? Every year, thousands of companies nationwide face millions of dollars in civil penalties and lawsuits for inadequately protecting workers. Failure to abide by commonsense and federal safety regulations jeopardizes your entire workforce. Ultimately, no one is above the law of humans or the laws of physics. If let unattended, mismanaged chemical stockpiles or equipment can injure workers or customers, leaving your company on the hook for punitive damagers. Worker safety should never be a “cost of doing business” or collateral damage. Protect your assets and employees with steel protection from U.S. Hazmat Storage.
OSHA Cites Atlanta Chemical Manufacturer for Safety Violations
If your shiver at the thought of OSHA inspectors paying an impromptu visit to your factory, you probably need to do a little housecleaning on the jobsite. OSHA inspectors receive hours of rigorous training to deftly assess and reprimand brazen and surreptitious safety hazards. While it’s true that federal inspectors act unbiased without undue influence in evaluating potential violations, they live by a altruistic creed in ensuring worker safety. Although their austere approach might come off as callous or calculative, their intent is commendable. They only have your best interest at heart. They want to protect your workforce so they never read a ghastly headline depicting workplace fatalities again.
Recently, an Atlanta chemical manufacturer jostled the ilk and high brass of federal safety regulations. OSHA cited the plant with 67 serious safety violations and a proposed penalty of $289,439. Furthermore, OSHA claims the plant exposed workers to a series of egregious workplace dangers associated with “chemicals and struck-by hazards.” An abbreviated list of the alleged transgressions are below.
Alleged Chemical Violations
- Provide feasible engineering controls to reduce employee exposures to hexavalent chromium.
- Develop and implement a comprehensive hazard communication program for the handling and use of hazardous chemicals.
- Ensure chemical drums and pallets were stacked on storage racks in a secure manner.
Compliant Chemical Storage to Enhance Worker Safety
While we take no pleasure in enumerating the numerous safety violations besieging the Atlanta chemical manufacturing, we can use this latest incident as a teachable moment. As we gloss over the list of alleged damages, we would be remiss if we didn’t provide cost-effective safety alternatives to prevent future incidents from occurring. Several of the alleged violations concern improper safety violations, including chemical storage. According to OSHA, the manufacturer failed to secure chemical drums and pallets were stacked on storage racks in a secure manner. Our fire-rated chemical storage lockers could’ve easily accommodated their large stockpiles of hazardous materials. Moreover, our chemical warehouse’s roll-up doors and pushback shelving allow for the easy storage and removal of drums. Centralized compliant storage ensures both worker safety and streamlined manufacturing processes. Contact us today to learn more about our wide-encompassing and accommodating chemical storage lockers.