Mowing OSHA is watching

[ctbigman]

With government deficits such a poular topic, many agencies are looking to increase revenue to justify their budgets. One of my commercial mowing customers was fined by OSHA today for not having the deflectors on his mower decks. An OSHA agent just pulled up to his jobsite and wrote the citations for $375 per mower. He would have written citations for the string trimmers on the trailer but they were not in use. The contractor has no recourse or appeal according to the agent. Just an FYI...

 

[FastPauly]

At first I want to say this action by OSHA is pure nonsense....but after a little thought, it very well could prevent a serious injury to an innocent bystander.....now we would be talking nonsense!

 

[sweettractors]

With government deficits such a poular topic, many agencies are looking to increase revenue to justify their budgets. One of my commercial mowing customers was fined by OSHA today for not having the deflectors on his mower decks. An OSHA agent just pulled up to his jobsite and wrote the citations for $375 per mower. He would have written citations for the string trimmers on the trailer but they were not in use. The contractor has no recourse or appeal according to the agent. Just an FYI...

Now the property owner will have to mow more often to keep from having the windrow effect caused by the deflector. Ken Sweet

 

[oldnslo]

Interesting, I was told by an OSHA employee at a safety seminar that OSHA does not hand out fines. There sole perpose is to point out potential safety concerns and then how you deal with them are up to you. He indicated that quite frequenly these reports are also reviewed by your insurance companies and these blood suckers use this as an excuse to raise your premiums.

Roy

 

[Duffster]

The contractor has no recourse or appeal according to the agent.

The contractor can appeal, although probably not worth it.

Interesting, I was told by an OSHA employee at a safety seminar that OSHA does not hand out fines.

Not true at all. Their bark wouldn't have much bite if that was the case.

 

[Short Game]

I just removed my deflector, as it was too bent up put back into the down position (where I never ran it), and I could not get to the grease zirk (my only motivation to lower it). They'll have to catch me.

 

[NC tractor driver]

This is nothing new. I used to be in charge of asbestos removal at a power plant. Had a decent relationship with the Department of Health and Environment, who was the state agency responsible for administering the OSHA regs. Before a removal job I would call the contractor and DHE to site and walk down the job before we started work and make sure everything was acceptable.

Fast forward and the person I was dealing with retired. Had a job coming up and called the lady who was now doing this job. Told her I wanted to have a job walk. She said they will not do that any more, but they will come on site to try to find things we were doing wrong so they can assess fines.

I asked her how that was supposed to protect workers from exposure. I was told in no uncertain terms that protecting the workers came a distant second to generating revenue from fines.

and people wonder why I'm jaded toward government.

 

[Short Game]

We're all in this together.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Interesting, I was told by an OSHA employee at a safety seminar that OSHA does not hand out fines. There sole perpose is to point out potential safety concerns and then how you deal with them are up to you. He indicated that quite frequenly these reports are also reviewed by your insurance companies and these blood suckers use this as an excuse to raise your premiums.

Roy

Someone told you wrong....! I've PAID several OSHA fines. They point out "potential safety concerns" OK.....Then they give you the option of shutting down and FIXING those "concerns" or face MORE fines and MORE action.

In my case, the appeals process would have been significantly more expensive than simply paying the fine, and most likely, the appeal would have been denied anyway. (legal fees, paying "expert witness', ect)

And let me assure you, they DO NOT give you the option of "how you deal with them"....They have well defined regulation on exactly how you'll go about remedying violations of their rather detailed codes. You do it THEIR way or find yourself in WAY over your head....BTDT, just now getting the footprints off my butt....!

OSHA has levied some HUMONGOUS fines to several companies in the coal mining industry, as well as the oil industry. Here's just one example of their powers to fine...

BP handed largest OSHA fine, $87.4M - UPI.com.

 

[BeeferMan]

I'm sorry, but I don't see any evidence of anyone having been lax with safety. At least not within the link you provided. Do you have any more info?

xtn

Did not mean to imply that anyone was lax on safety in this case or if the equipment as inappropriate for the job at hand - that's being determined as we speak, I'm sure. And there's no way to be 100% safe. Just a reminder this is the type of accident that safety equipment is meant to prevent. People bypass, ignore and downplay the importance of safety devices all the time, myself included. When it's only your ***** on the line that's one thing, but...

 

[Short Game]

The devices are fine, but not always needed. But you need them to conform to the regulation all the time. The regulation never sleeps.

It's who gets the regulating that bears watching. They'll get us all worked up about freedom to get us to vote for thems that'll do away with the regulatin', but it's the big contributors that will get the regulators off their backs, while the guy on the mower with no lawyers on retainer will get the hairy eyeball and the fines.

This is America. You're innocent until proven broke.

 

[lakesidebobcat]

This is America. You're innocent until proven broke.[/QUOTE]

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

soooooooooo very true

 

[Short Game]

If you can't afford an attorney, we'll have one inflated for you.

 

[BeeferMan]

Guess the guys at Massey didn't contribute enough...

MSHA - Performance Coal - Upper Big Branch Mine South Disaster Information Single Source Page

 

[xtn]

Did not mean to imply that anyone was lax on safety in this case or if the equipment as inappropriate for the job at hand - that's being determined as we speak, I'm sure. And there's no way to be 100% safe. Just a reminder this is the type of accident that safety equipment is meant to prevent. People bypass, ignore and downplay the importance of safety devices all the time, myself included. When it's only your ***** on the line that's one thing, but...

Agreed.

But may I humbly propose that safety equipment is intended to REDUCE the frequency or severity of accidents; not prevent them altogether. Believing that the unexpected can be totally prevented is, in my opinion, overly optimistic.

xtn

 

[Short Game]

Guess the guys at Massey didn't contribute enough...

MSHA - Performance Coal - Upper Big Branch Mine South Disaster Information Single Source Page

Massey kept two sets of safety records in order to prevent federal inspectors from learning about the severe hazards in the Upper Big Branch mine that Massey officials already knew about. For its own needs, Massey had to keep a record of safety problems, malfunctioning equipment, maintenance needs and other operational details in the mine. But in a separate record book required by the federal Mine Health and Safety Administration and regularly reviewed by the MHSA, Massey officials systematically deleted any references to the dangers that they had observed first-hand.

In a perfect world, this would fill a few more orange jumpsuits. I have a feeling they've contributed enough to save their big fish from felony manslaughter charges.

 

[dodge man]

OSHA has a lot of power, make no mistake about it. They rarely just drive around looking for trouble. My experience is that they follow through on complaints, which could be from a disgruntal ex employee, the union complaining about a non union contractor, etc. But while they are driving from one place to another, they will often stop and write up anybody they see along the way. My experience is that just about any job site is subject to fines, because they can find something wrong.