Concrete manufacturing company fined for failure to comply with federal workplace safety standards

The U.S. Department of Labor has found that Lindsay Precast Inc., a concrete manufacturing company, willfully exposed a worker to serious injury when a cement mixer turned on with a worker inside. According to the investigation, the worker performing maintenance inside the cement mixer narrowly escaped fatal injuries when the coworker turned on the machine in Colorado Springs. 

Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration have determined that the company's failure to comply with federal workplace safety standards nearly cost the worker their life. They found that Lindsay Precast Inc. knew that federal law required the company to train workers on lockout/tagout and confined space entry procedures before maintenance on the mixer began. 

Following the March 2, incident, OSHA issued one citation for "exposing workers to potential hazards by not developing and using procedures to control hazardous energy and not training employees on the related dangers."

OSHA also issued serious citations for other failures by the company, including:

-           Not training workers on permit-required confined space hazards and the safety procedures for entering these spaces.

-           Failing to train workers on fall hazards and provide fall protection in elevated areas on and around the concrete mixer.

-           Failing to periodically inspect their hazardous energy control procedures.

-           Not training affected employees on the proper procedures for powering on and off devices requiring lockout/tagout devices.

The citations and proposed penalties total $203,035. The company also received citations for machine guarding violations following a worker's injury in 2017, and for respiratory protection and electrical violations two years later.

"Our investigation found Lindsay Precast Inc. was well-aware they were required to ensure employees used hazardous energy control procedures, yet they failed to implement them," said OSHA Area Director Chad Vivian in a statement in Englewood, Colorado. "By sheer good fortune, a worker narrowly avoided much more serious, and potentially, fatal injuries, in an incident that would have never happened if the employer had followed federal requirements to de-energize and lockout the mixer to prevent the machine's start-up."