Nebraska Company Fights OSHA Ruling
An Omaha livestock feed supplement company will contest citations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration after a factory collapsed in January, killing two workers and injuring nine others.
OSHA said the Jan. 20 structural collapse of the International Nutrition plant was caused by overloading nine storage bins on the building’s roof level. The agency cited the company with one willful, one repeat and 14 additional safety violations for failing to protect workers from hazards associated with the structural collapse.
“Families lost loves ones because International Nutrition did not follow the basic safety procedures that would have prevented this senseless loss of life,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels in a recent OSHA news release.
See OSHA’s Citation and Notificatio
n of Penalty report here:
https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/International_Nutrition_955579_Jul18_2014.pdf
The investigation determi
ned a structural failure of the east side truss. OSHA investigators said bins that supported it were overloaded with an excess of limestone. The extra weight caused the bins to collapse three floors into the center of the facility in about 30 seconds.
“In that 30 seconds, close to 1 million pounds of steel, concrete, and equipment came crashing through the plant. Lives were forever impacted, not just for the injured and fatally injured workers, but for their loved ones as well,” said veteran Omaha Accident Attorney, Richard Rensch.
OSHA has proposed penalties of $120,560 and placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Across the nation, 423 employers are currently listed as “severe violators.”
Because of the citation and violations, International Nutrition will face increased scrutiny from local building officials and possibly from federal safety inspectors as it rebuilds its Omaha plant and reopens for production.
“In the meantime, workers injured in that collapse and the families of the deceased are trying to rebuild their lives and put food on the table,” said Rensch. Although he does not represent workers injured in this workplace accident, Rensch and his son and law partner Sean Rensch have represented numerous injured employees and their families for workers’ compensation claims through their Omaha law practice, Rensch and Rensch Law.
Through attorneys last month, the Omaha manufacturer of livestock feed supplements notified OSHA that it will contest all citations and penalties proposed by OSHA.
The case now moves to an independent federal agency where it will be heard by an administrative law judge and reviewed by commissioners.
Decisions of the OSHA judge and commission can be challenged in a federal appeals court.
“It could be nine months or more before an administrative law hearing happens. And then, it could take two to four years before the OSHA case is finally resolved,” said Rensch.
Rensch said under workers compensation laws, whether or not the employer’s negligence was a cause of injury to an employee does not normally effect the rights of the worker. Generally speaking, he said, if the employee is injured while working within the scope of his duties for the employer, then work comp benefits will be available. However, if an outside third party’s negligence can be linked to a work injury occurrence, the worker will have additional common law remedies to pursue against any third party – outside of the workers’ compensation law arena.
Here is a link to the company’s statement:
