OSHA Reverses, Won’t Fine Company

Last week OSHA had issued a statement making clear their intent of citing and fining Vos Electric after an employee was killed on a construction site in April of this year. However, after a meeting with company officials, OSHA has reversed course and deleted the citation and fine.

At the meeting company officials were able to present sufficient evidence to OSHA inspectors that showed extensive training was conducted on the “cherry picker” that crushed 27-year-old Jorge Leandro-Ramirez, an employee operating the equipment back on April 29. OSHA acknowledges that the accident occurred in spite of, not because of lack of, training.

Employers should be encouraged that accurate record-keeping and reporting, as well as robust training programs, provide some help in defending your company when disasters occur. A review of all training programs and policies should be performed to make sure they do the job of protecting workers.