Strauss Feeds LLC, a Watertown, Wisconsin, animal food manufacturer, faces $161,332 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for exposing its employees to the risks of explosions, fires, and long-term respiratory illnesses from excessive amounts of airborne dust, the agency announced September 12.
OSHA inspectors cited Strauss Feeds with two dozen violations, including 19 serious and 5 other-than-serious safety and health violations. Agency inspectors found the company’s poor housekeeping, failure to evaluate spaces for dust hazards, and absence of engineering controls to reduce dust created serious combustible and airborne dust hazards.
Inspectors also determined the employer failed to develop a respiratory protection program that should have included medical evaluations, fit testing, monitoring, and employee training in recognizing dust hazards.
The agency also noted that workers were exposed to hazards from walking and working surfaces, falls, confined spaces, and the operation of industrial trucks and forklifts when combustible dust hazards were present, increasing the risks of fire and explosion.
“Unsafe levels of airborne dust can ignite suddenly, causing explosions and fires that jeopardize the safety of workers,” Chad Greenwood, OSHA’s Madison, Wisconsin, area office director, said in an agency statement. “Left unchecked, these same dust hazards can cause workers long-term health issues.”
Strauss Feeds, founded in 1875 as a small, water-powered mill on a farm in North Manchester, Indiana, is in its sixth generation of family ownership, according to OSHA. The company makes milk replacements for calves and other young animals.
Wisconsin contractor facing $144K OSHA fine for fall violations
GL Construction of Madison LLC, a suburban Madison contractor, faces $144,505 in OSHA fines for exposing workers to falls from elevation, which is the construction industry’s most deadly hazard, the agency announced September 12.
Fall hazards are among the construction industry’s “fatal four” hazards, along with caught-in/-between, electrocution, and struck-by hazards. OSHA’s construction industry fall protection standard (29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1926.501) has remained its most cited standard for 13 years in a row, cited 7,271 times in fiscal year (FY) 2023.
OSHA cited the Sun Prairie company with one willful, two repeat, and five serious violations.
Agency compliance safety and health officers (CSHOs) initiated an inspection under the agency’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) for falls after observing six employees of GL Construction at a Verona residential construction site performing framing work up to 12 feet off the ground without required protective equipment.
OSHA has cited the employer for violations following inspections in each of the last 4 years. The agency investigated the April 2022 fatality of a GL Construction employee who was struck by a more than 1,000-pound wall that tipped over as a work crew tried to use a crane to lift the structure in high winds. OSHA cited the employer with nine serious and two other-than-serious violations at the time.
GL Construction has failed to pay related federal penalties, provide abatement information, or comply with the terms of a settlement between OSHA and the company, according to the agency.
“GL Construction of Madison has repeatedly exposed its employees to potentially fatal injuries and shows a blatant and callous disregard for their safety and welfare,” Greenwood said in another statement.