Alstom Transportation, Inc. was cited for 22 violations of OSHA's workplace safety and health standards during inspections that took place between April 18 and Oct. 12 at its Transit Drive plant in Hornell.
Some of the violations were corrected during the inspection, according to the Star-Gazette (N.Y.). The inspection was part of OSHA's program that calls for inspecting work sites with illness and injury rates higher than the industry average.
The proposed fines can be altered during follow-up conferences with the agency's Syracuse regional office, and the company has 15 days from the receipt of the citations to correct them or request an informal conference with OSHA. The company also can contest the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
In a prepared statement, the company said it would formally appeal several of the citations and proposed penalties.
OSHA inspectors cited the company for 17 alleged willful and serious safety violations and proposed fines totaling $123,300. The most serious include two instances of allowing workers to operate cranes previously identified as being unsafe and one instance of an inadequate access platform to the cab of a third crane.
Other safety violations the company was cited for include missing rails on work platforms, unguarded crane runways, failing to lock and tag out machines being repaired, and storing oxygen and acetylene cylinders together without a separating barrier.
Alstom also was cited for six health violations, which carry proposed fines totaling $7,200. The violations include improper storage of flammable paint and workers' exposure to airborne cadmium at concentrations higher than OSHA standards.