Services: citation | forklift training | lockout | machine guarding | OSHA | Right to Know | Training
A specialty machine shop contacted CHESS after undergoing an OSHA inspection. The specialty shop was cited for lack of lockout procedures, lack of forklift training, inadequate machine guarding on two press brakes, and lack of Right to Know/Hazard Communication training and program. The total penalty was over $3000. They asked a neighboring business for advice, and that shop, which had been working with CHESS for several years, recommended calling us.
The machine shop contacted us a few days after receiving their citation. As we understand the immediacy of responding to OSHA inspections, we were able to meet with them within two days.
The penalty was significant for this small, family owned business. We helped them contest the citations, successfully getting the penalty reduced by half. We brought them into compliance with the forklift requirements by providing classroom training, doing driver evaluations, training their staff to conduct the competency evaluations in the future, and guiding them on how to do the required carbon monoxide monitoring. We developed a lockout/tagout written program, provided training on lockout procedures, and wrote specific procedures for several pieces of equipment. We brought them into compliance with the Right to Know requirements by developing a written program covering their exposures, advising them on how to manage their safety data sheets, and providing training to their employees. Abating the final citation, guarding the press brake, took longer, because the shop formed different pieces with each job run on this older machine. We continued to work with the company and to keep OSHA updated until a solution was devised nearly a year after the initial citation.