April 2021 Enforcement
OSHA cites auto parts manufacturer for failing to implement, enforce coronavirus protections
Two machine operators at a Grandview auto parts manufacturer who jointly operated a press tested positive for the coronavirus just two days apart, in late August 2020. The two workers typically labored for hours at a time less than two feet apart; neither wore a protective facial mask consistently. Ten days later, two more workers operating similar presses together tested positive. On Sept. 19, 2020, one of the press operators fell victim to the virus and died.
In an investigation that followed, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Peterson Manufacturing – operating as Maxi-Seal Harness Systems Inc. – under OSHA’s general duty clause for failing to maintain safe working conditions. At least six employees of the Grandview plant have tested positive for the virus.
The company faces one serious and one other-than-serious violation, and proposed penalties totaling $15,604. As part of the investigation, OSHA’s Office of Occupational Medicine and Nursing determined, with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the deceased employee contracted the virus while on the job.
