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SAFETY / OSHA - 3/19/08

OSHA cites Oklahoma City-based M-D Building Products for multiple repeat safety violation

The alleged failure to protect its employees from safety hazards has brought M-D Building Products, in Oklahoma City, $107,500 in proposed penalties from OSHA in response to an August 2007 follow-up inspection.

In October 2005, OSHA cited the company, and proposed penalties totaling $177,000, for violations following an amputation. The August 2007 follow-up inspection resulted in OSHA citing the company with three serious and four repeat violations. M-D Building, a manufacturer of decorative molding assortments and weatherproofing products, has about 400 employees at its Oklahoma City facility.

"Within the past few years, the company has had a history of severe injuries including amputations of an arm, hands and fingers, burns and electrical shock," said Carlos Reynolds, OSHA's acting district director in Oklahoma City. "If this employer had implemented periodic safety inspections, as required, many of these injuries could have been avoided."

The three serious violations were for failing to correctly certify that energy control procedures were conducted; perform forklift operator evaluations; and provide adequate machine guarding. A serious violation is one involving a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

The four repeat violations included failing to conduct periodic inspections of energy control procedures with maintenance employees and provide machine guarding to protect employees from rotating and nip points on machinery. A repeat violation is proposed when this same OSHA standard or a like standard has been violated within the last three years.

M-D Building Products has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's Oklahoma City area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review commission.

Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards may call OSHA's Oklahoma City Area Office at 405-278-9560 or OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-6742 to report workplace safety and health-related incidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to employees.

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