NTN-Bower's bearing manufacturing plant in Hamilton, Alabama has been targeted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for proposed fines totaling nearly $200,000 after a recent inspection found 36 violations [OSHA press release is here].

One "willful" and 31 "serious" health and safety violations were cited, relating to NTN itself, garnering potential fines of up to $172,350.

Another four "serious" violations were tagged to Advanced Technology Services, a subcontractor responsible for NTN-Bower's safety and firefighting efforts. OSHA proposed $20,000 in fines to ATS.

Roberto Sanchez, OSHA's Birmingham Area Director, said: "The large number of violations revealed by OSHA's inspection of this facility reflects management's failure to properly train its employees to work safely and ensure that company safety policies are followed consistently."

The key "willful" violation, with a $63,000 penalty, was for NTN-Bower's failure to properly enforce its lockout/tagout procedures. OSHA says a "willful" violation is, "committed with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee safety and health."

NTN-Bower's 31 other "serious" violations cover the gamut of inadequate training, improper firefighting systems and protective clothing, inadequate/missing machine guards, electrical problems, and chemical labeling inadequacies.

Put in perspective, chemical labeling and handling citations can be serious. But they can also be triggered by situations as simple as a drum with a missing label, or solvents being used to service equipment from unapproved containers. OSHA's public report did not specify the individual situations cited.

Similarly, while workers have been schooled lockout/tagout and missing/removed/bypassed guard issues for decades, they can be difficult to root out in a large shop. Ironically, those workers most likely to become complacent about formal safety procedures are also the most experienced; many studies have shown humans naturally develop a tolerance for and discount dangerous situations. And ignoring lockout/tagout is a leading cause of serious workplace injuries for all manufacturers.

The best lockout/tagout video we could find on YouTube:
Florida Department of Education : Lockout / Tagout
Because the bearing industry does such a high proportion of its manufacturing in discrete steps on potentially lethal high-speed turning, grinding, chucking, broaching, heat treating and other equipment, the number of dangerous manufacturing steps is also disproportionately higher than in shops producing other fabricated products.

The $20,000 in potential fines levied on Advanced Technology Services revolve around its failure to provide NTN-Bower with proper firefighting clothing, equipment and training.

While many of us who have been responsible for manufacturing facilities often feel we have been targeted by overzealous OSHA inspections, it is also true that most proposed fines are greatly reduced or rescinded entirely when committed efforts are made quickly and decisively to address the inspection failure points.

NTN-Bower was given 15 days to respond to and contest the violations.