Inspectors from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited a Delaware, Ohio, plant operated by Optimum Plastics Inc. for unsafe working conditions. A number of violations of workplace regulations were found that, because they resulted in employee injuries, could be the basis of workers' compensation claims.
Four employees at the facilities suffered painful fractures on their forearms because they were required to work on winder machines that lacked adequate guarding to protect them against injury. Shockingly, the injuries occurred on four separate occasions and nothing changed. OSHA found three safety violations at the plant and is proposing that the company be fined up to $81,000. The company is accused of having made literally no efforts at all to remedy the hazards, even after the injuries occurred.
Such attitudes are shockingly all too prevalent among predatory employers who care absolutely nothing about the health and safety of employees, and are more than happy to stand by and ignore known hazards that could easily be fixed, all to save a few pennies to add to the company's bottom line profits.
Workers' compensation laws have been a result of workers' long fight for reform. Filing claims play a significant role in gaining just compensation for the victims of employers' greed and callousness. But it also serves as an incentive for companies to fix or remove workplace safety hazards or pay the price. OSHA inspections also play a beneficial role in the later, but do not provide a mechanism for getting compensation for injured, maimed or killed employees.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, "Optium Plastics Inc. faces $81,000 in proposed U.S. Department of Labor OSHA penalties after 4 workers suffer fractures at Delaware, Ohio, plant" Scott Allen and Rhonda Burke, Sep. 19, 2013