A Missouri steel plant owned by St. Louis Cold Drawn has received OSHA citations for 31 safety violations.
Some of these violations include inadequate safety guards and electrical hazards.
This same company, which manufactures steel bars, lost a worker to electrocution in 2013 and received multiple citations then as well.
Some of the citations received in December 2015 are repeat violations of 2013. The number of citations in 2013 was 26, and the proposed fines then were just over $51,000.
The current total proposed penalties are over $366,000.
Some electrical citations in 2015 include inadequate guarding, insufficient crane inspections, workers exposed to machines during maintenance and operation, and insufficient inspections of energy control procedures.
Other electrical hits include exposed internal wiring, inadequate overcurrent protective devices, a live circuit breaker taped in the “open” position, and uncovered splices.
The electrocution incident 2 years ago involved a worker who reached into live equipment in order to retrieve his work gloves. The gloves had been stored in the electrical box. Another worker that same year suffered an amputated finger due to inadequate guarding of machinery.
OSHA’s 2015 inspection of St. Louis Cold Drawn was a result of complaints alleging of unsafe working conditions that were filed with OSHA.
Workers were exposed to falls of up to 30 feet above the slag pit and falls of 20 feet above the electric-arc furnace and molten-steel ladle, according to OSHA. The agency also cited the Canton steel plant for two repeat violations and eight serious violations.