The following are recent OSHA enforcement cases around the country, including a Texas company cited after fatality, Two Florida roofing companies cited for exposing employees to fall and other hazards, Athens, Georgia Dollar Tree Store, and a Missouri food flavoring manufacturer.

The following are recent OSHA enforcement cases around the country, including a Florida roofing company, an Ohio roofing contractor, a Michigan pipeline company, a Florida tortilla company, a New York frozen foods packager, a Wisconsin manufacturing company, and a Pennsylvania manufacturing company.

In OSHA’s 48-year-old history, the agency has experienced desperate hours on a regular schedule. The agency opened its door in 1971. Before the decade was out a “STOP OSHA” lobbying movement was underway. In 1979, Republican Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania proposed an “OSHA Improvements Act” which would have exempted from inspections all employers, large or small, regardless of industry, with good safety records. It was defeated in 1980.

OSHA has cited Hilti Inc. – a hardware merchant wholesaler – for exposing employees to struck-by hazards after an employee was injured while operating a forklift at a distribution center in Atlanta, Georgia. The Plano, Texas-based company faces penalties of $164,802.

OSHA is now enforcing the requirement that employers must evaluate the competency of their operators before allowing them to operate cranes independently. The agency updated its standard for cranes and derricks in construction by clarifying each employer's duty to ensure the competency of crane operators through training, certification or licensing, and evaluation.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has ordered Eastern Awning Systems Inc. – a manufacturer of retractable fabric patio awnings based in Watertown, Connecticut – and its owner Stephen P. Lukos to pay a total of $160,000 to two discharged employees who filed safety and health complaints with OSHA.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association is pleased to support the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication's professional development training, HazCom Registry Preparation, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The course, designed for hazard communication professionals preparing to sit for the Safety Data Sheets & Label Authoring Registry competency assessment, will be presented on March 16-17 by Robert Skoglund, Ph.D., DABT, CIH; Denese A. Deeds, CIH, FAIHA, SDSRP; Douglas Eisner, M.S.; Chandra D. Gioiello, M.S., CIH; and Robert Roy, Ph.D., DABT.

Kansas drywall contractor cited following fatal forklift incident. Midwest Drywall Company, Inc., faces $77,604 in penalties after a worker was fatally crushed by part of a forklift. OSHA inspectors determined that the company failed to properly secure a suspended and supported load, and ensure that workers were kept clear of it.

OSHA's civil penalties amounts for violations of workplace safety and health standards will increase in 2019 to adjust for inflation. The adjusted maximum penalty amounts will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register. New penalties for willful and repeat violations will be $132,598 per violation; serious, other-than-serious, and posting requirements are $13,260 per violation.