Steel Company: $2500 Fine Too Much For Killing A Worker

http://spewingforth.blogspot.com/2006/10/steel-company-2500-fine-too-much-for.html

Steel Company: $2500 Fine Too Much For Killing A Worker

Some companies really just have no shame.

The big bad Occupational Safety and Health Administration is back to acting like the Gestapo again, according to the Macsteel Service Center USA which is SHOCKED and OUTRAGED that Indiana OSHA fined them the outrageous sum of $2,500 for crushing David Pineda to death under a load of steel beams last July.

IOSHA issued the $2,500 fine for what it called a "serious" violation to a safety order in connection with Pineda's death.

The agency states: "The company did not establish and maintain conditions of work which were reasonably safe and healthful for employees and free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that the employees were exposed to: falling steel beams."

Plus, after a September inspection, the agency found that although the company had a written crane training program is in place, the program hadn't been implemented.

A company spokesman said that Macsteel was contesting "each and every violation, penalty and abatement" because they didn't have time to reach an informal resolution to the safety order.

"Macsteel Service Centers USA has always and will continue to act as a good corporate citizen," said Victor Shames, executive vice president, corporate human resources. "We are proud to be an integral part of communities in which we operate and we are committed to upholding our moral, civic and legal responsibilities."(emphasis added)

Macsteel's web page ensures its customers that its safety management program shows how they're dealing with "a responsible and reliable company."

$2500 really is too much. Hell, Pineda should have felt honored to give his life for such a responsible and reliable "good corporate citizens" who uphold their moral, civic and legal responsibilities. How dare OSHA harass and abuse them.

it claiming it couldn't afford the fine imposed on it for spilling oil all over the Alaskan coastline.

And the owner of the Sego mines, why it would have just buried his ass to have working equipment down in those mines.

Workers safety, alwasy iffy, is now a thing of the past.

yup- my official job title was "hooker"...i never had any close calls but had to watch out for a couple of crane operators when i was loading gondolas or stacking...i can`t imagine what his crew thought when they heard or saw the crash...
i guess in south africa life is cheaper than 2500 dollars...i see they are moving into Ryerson territory....