The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has hit an Alabama stonemason with multiple sanctions and a nearly $30,000 fine as a result of a fatal injury inquiry.
The company, Huntsville Granite and Marble LLC was the scene of a fatal accident where a slab of stone weighing thousands of pounds hit a 33-year-old employee.
OSHA has now said that, as a result of the investigation, this fatal and horrific accident could have been avoided. Huntsville Granite and Marble LLC was established in 2006 and is a family-owned enterprise in North Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
Alabama stonemason given charges and fine for fatal incident inquiry findings
The incident in question took place, according to a recent Department of Labor report, when employees had been using “a forklift to take stone slabs off a storage rack when the slab became unsecured and struck the worker. OSHA found that an improperly secured load and a damaged rigging hook with a missing safety latch contributed to the incident.”
OSHA found that the company had been negligent and violated federal regulations in multiple instances
The government’s employment regulator found that the company failed to develop and institute safe procedures, including worker training, for moving stone slabs. Workers should not have been instructed or able to use a damaged rigging hook missing a safety latch and worn and damaged security straps. Furthermore, OSHA found that the company failed to ensure manufacturer-approved forklift attachments and did not conduct three-yearly evaluations of forklift operators’ performance.
This has resulted in five serious citations to Huntsville Granite and Marble for violations related to “its failures to protect workers from struck-by, crushed-by, and fall hazards. OSHA has proposed $29,035 in penalties to address the violations, an amount set by federal statute.”
“Huntsville Granite and Marble didn’t uphold its duty to keep workers safe,” said OSHA Area Office Director Joel Batiz in Birmingham, Alabama. “With the right procedures, equipment, and training, this tragedy could have been avoided. We call on employers to prioritize workplace safety and use OSHA resources to safeguard their employees.”
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