Deadly Accidents

Imperial Sugar
Savannah, Georgia
February 2008













-Fined $9 million by OSHA following an explosion at a plant near Savannah, Ga.
-13 people killed, 40 others injured
-OSHA investigated working and safety conditions at other plants, found numerous violations
-Company was aware of problems, but took no action to correct them
-Third largest settlement in OSHA history

“I am outraged that this company would show a complete disregard for its employees’ safety by knowingly placing them in an extremely dangerous work environment.”

-Assistant Secretary of Labor Edwin G. Foulke Jr.

McWane
Tyler, Texas
1995-2003











-Between 1995 and 2003, more than 400 safety violations at foundry in Tyler, Texas
-At a plant employing 5,000, more than 4,600 injuries
-Company faced criminal charges, fines and several managers were sent to prison
-Cleaned up its act: in 2008 received trade group award for millions of man-hours with no injuries



W.R. Grace (HQ in Maryland)
Libby, Montana
1963-2008







-Repeat safety violations
-Hundreds of miners, their families and other residents poisoned by asbestos-containing ore at a mine
-Declared bankruptcy in 2001 from asbestos-related lawsuits
-Executives indicted for putting workers at risk; later acquitted
-$1.8 billion settlement with victims (April 2008)
-EPA fined $250 million for investigating and cleaning the Libby site



Murray Energy-Genwal
Crandall Canyon mine, Utah
August 2007













-Largest coal mining fine ever; $1.6 million
-Collapse at the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah
-Six miners killed, three rescuers killed while trying to remove the bodies
-"Demonstrated reckless disregard for safety"; failure to report early signs of danger



KMGP Services
Walnut Creek, California
November 2004


















-Violated state labor codes
-Punctured a gas pipeline while building a water pipeline; failed to mark a bend in the pipeline
-Five workers killed, four workers injured
-Fines of $640,000
-Criminal charges of $10 million, plus $5 million to end civil prosecution
-Settlements with victims' families of at least $69 million



Cintas
Tulsa, Oklahoma
2007











-OSHA's largest fine in the service sector; $2.76 million
-Employee killed while trying to clear a conveyor belt
-OSHA ruled that company should have used safety barriers to prevent employees from being pulled into machinery



Tyson Foods
Texarkana, Arkansas
October 2003











-Long record of workplace issues (race bias to employing undocumented immigants)
-Dept. of Justice fined company maximum criminal fine of $500,000 for willfully violating worker-safety regulations
-OSHA fined $436,000 for safety violations
-Tyson aware that hydrolyzers emitted hydrogen sulfide gas, but didn't fix the problem
-Employee died from toxic fumes in October 2003 after trying to fix a leak on a hydrolyzer



Merced Farm Labor
San Joaquin County, California
May 2007













-Refused 17-year-old pregnant, undocumented worker to have water or shade while working a 9-hour shift in 100+ degree weather
-She collapsed, wasn't taken to a hospital for more than an hour and a half and died of heat stroke
-History of heat-illness violations
-Fined $263,000, largest ever for a farming operation in California
-Revoked Merced Farm Labor's license and shut down the operation



Massey Energy
Raleigh County, West Virginia
April 5, 2010













-History of failing to observe safety and health rules
-EPA fined Massey $20 million in 2008 for polluting waterways around facilities
-$4.2 in criminal fines and civil penalties for "willful violation of mandatory safety standards"
-Led to deaths of two miners
-Upper Big Branch mine: site of multiple safety violations; 3,000 since 2007
-Fines cover improper ventilation of methane and dust and allowing the accumulation of combustible materials, which could have led to April 2010 explosion
-April 5, 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion killed Gary Quarles, one of the two miners in that explosion (children of Quarles pictured above)


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train your workers properly!

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