Texas-Based Cut Stone Manufacturer Fined $234.9K for Safety Violations

Cut limestone manufacturer Mezger Enterprises Ltd., based in Lampasas, Texas, has been cited for 27 safety and health violations, including two willful, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Proposed penalties total $234,900.

OSHA said the company exposed workers to unguarded machines, unsafe electrical equipment, infrequent crane inspections and noise levels that could cause hearing loss at its Kempner facility.

The two willful violations, with a penalty of $126,000, were cited for failure to conduct hearing tests for workers exposed to noise levels exceeding 90 decibels; in this case, exposures ranged up to 99 decibels averaged over the eight-hour workday and failure to guard large, circular stone saws; a hazard that could result in severe injury or death.

A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

With a penalty of $108,000, 23 serious violations were cited for failure to provide proper sanitation, guard machines, inspect cranes and repair electrical hazards. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

Two other violations, with a $900 fine, were cited for failure to maintain the injury and illness logs and provide workers with the respiratory protection standard’s Appendix D for voluntary use of respirator devices.

Mezger Enterprises, which employs approximately 111 workers, has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s Austin Area Office, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission.

Source: OSHA

Topics Texas Workers' Compensation Manufacturing