Companies Refuse to Pay OSHA Fines including death ($222,065 from South Carolina companies alone)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.wspa.com/spa/news/investigation/article/companies_refuse_to_pay_osha_fines/12132/

By Andy Pierrotti
Investigative Reporter
Published: December 9, 2008

There is always some risk of an accident at work. That’s why the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets strict rules to prevent disasters from happening.

In 2007, a disaster took David Mill’s father in Taylors, “My father was a great man. He overcame a lot of obstacles in his life,” said Mills talking about his father, David Ingram.

Ingram died May 2007 while working for Clinton Safety Associates near a Taylor’s facility. He suffocated inside a tanker while trying to clean out glue.

OSHA cited the North Carolina company for failing to supply Ingram with proper oxygen, and not having a plan in place to get him out quick. “Maybe my father would still be here if procedures followed as they should have been followed,” said Mills.

OSHA fined the company $58,000 dollars, but reduced it to less than half. It’s currently the largest unpaid fine with OSHA.

Even after OSHA gave it a break, the company’s owner disappeared. He’s not the only one. A 7 on Your Side investigation found during a 3 ½ year time period, OSHA has not been able to retrieve $222,065 from South Carolina companies fined for accidents and violations.
The state’s OSHA office denied our request for an interview, but it told us it does try to get companies to pay by calling, sending them letters, and through fines from the Department of Revenue. But, is it really that hard to find violators? We picked the telephone book and found two in Greenville in two days.

VIDEO & FULL story at link.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Every one of those companies should be shut down

until the fines are paid. In the case of the runaway owner--I hope the dead guy's family finds him and sues him.

[DoctorMyEyes]

2. OSHA is a joke

and nobody knows that better than the companies who consistently ignore their regulations. Even the companies that DO pay the fines don't change the way they conduct their businesses. The fines are so low compared to the cost of compliance that they simply calculate them as a cost of doing business.