Athletic apparel and shoe maker Adidas America Inc. faces $396,377 in new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for failing to correct fall hazards at its Chester, New York, warehouse, which was originally cited in March 2022, the agency announced August 9.
OSHA also issued the employer a Failure to Abate notice on top of citations after a January 2024 follow-up inspection at the facility that was prompted by Adidas’s failure to submit documentation of hazard abatement.
The company was required to confirm it had installed required guardrails or equivalent protection for employees accessing and working atop a mezzanine and make certain that a ladder used to access the mezzanine extended at least 3 feet (ft) above the landing.
The agency initially cited the company in March 2022 after a 2021 inspection found the absence of guardrails and an unsafe ladder that exposed Adidas employees to falls of up to 10 ft to the floor below. Agency inspectors returned in 2024 to find the company hadn’t corrected its violations.
“When employers agree to correct a hazard, they must follow through and prove to OSHA that the hazards were addressed,” Rita Young, OSHA’s Albany, New York, area office director, said in an agency statement. “Adidas America Inc. failed to do so, continued to expose their employees to potentially deadly and disabling injuries and are now liable for additional and sizable OSHA penalties.”
Adidas America Inc. is a subsidiary of Adidas AG, an athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. According to OSHA, the company is one of the world’s largest sportswear manufacturers and designs and markets its products, providing shoes, apparel, and accessories for men, women, boys, girls, and infants and toddlers, as well as specialized basketball, football, and training shoes.
OSHA has ongoing National Emphasis Programs for fall protection across all industries and warehouses and distribution centers. Procedures for the falls NEP, launched last year, allow OSHA’s compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) to open inspections whenever they observe someone working at heights during their normal workday travel or during other OSHA inspections. The warehouse and distribution center NEP, also launched last year, includes comprehensive safety inspections focused on hazards related to powered industrial vehicle operations, material handling and storage, walking and working surfaces, means of egress, and fire protection.
Cal/OSHA reminds employers to protect workers from wildfire smoke
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) reminded California employers on August 9 to monitor air quality and keep workers safe from the effects of wildfire smoke. The agency pointed to multiple wildfires burning in Northern, Central, and Southern California.
The state’s Protection from Wildfire Smoke standard applies at worksites where the air can’t be filtered and the Air Quality Index (AQI) for particulate matter (PM2.5) is 151 or more due to wildfire smoke.
Employers in the state must keep workers safe by providing training on wildfire smoke hazards, providing N-95 respirators for voluntary use, and allowing workers to refuse to work in unsafe conditions, including evacuation zones.
There’s no federal wildfire smoke standard.