Trade News Release
Tuesday, September 21, 1999
CONTACT: Frank Kane
PHONE: (202) 693-1999

Tomasco Mulciber, Inc., an Ohio auto parts manufacturer, agreed to pay $820,500 in penalties and implement a comprehensive safety and health program at its Columbus plant to settle a case brought earlier this year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

We are pleased that Tomasco has promised to correct the safety problems that caused serious hand and finger injuries to so many of its employees," Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. "Even more encouraging is the new safety and health program they are putting in place to provide ongoing protection for all their employees."

OSHA inspected the plant as part of its ongoing efforts to examine workplaces with the highest injury and illness rates. As a result of this inspection, on Jan. 19 OSHA issued willful and serious citations for violations of its machine guarding, lockout/tagout, mechanical power press, confined spaces and electrical standards. Penalties of $1.64 million were proposed.

In the settlement, Tomasco certified that all the conditions cited as violations are abated. The company also conducted a comprehensive safety and health analysis at the plant in conjunction with an outside consultant. A written action plan now provides for improvements to be made to the plant safety and health programs.

"This is a good example of how well OSHA's programs of site-specific inspection targeting work," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Charles N. Jeffress. "As a result of OSHA's inspection, Tomasco is taking positive steps to eliminate serious hazards in the workplace. And the settlement not only protects the workers, but avoids the cost and burden of prolonged litigation."

Tomasco's new safety and health program includes communications by the company president to all employees and temporary workers that stress the fundamental importance of safety and health protection and the establishment of clear corporate safety and health goals and objectives for managers and supervisors, for which they can be held accountable.

In addition, the company agreed to review and revise its written safety and health programs to ensure that all employees and temporary workers are competent to recognize basic safety hazards and those that are unique to the industry.

Tomasco also agreed to train temporary, newly-hired and newly reassigned employees on specific work operations, machine guarding, lockout/tagout safety and disciplinary rules to be applied in event of failure to observe work safety rules. The training will emphasize that no work is to be performed on machinery with removed, broken or disabled safety devices.

The company also agreed that no machinery will be used if safety devices, including point of operation safety controls, are disabled, broken or removed from the machine.

The text of this news release is on the Internet World Wide Web at http://www.osha.gov. Information on this news release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-693-1999.