OSHA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 3/10

The OSHA Enforcement Roundup gives you insight into how and why OSHA assesses penalties for workplace safe & health noncompliance. 

All violations or claims discussed below are alleged only unless we say otherwise, and we withhold the names of organizations and individuals to protect their privacy.

Check out OSHA’s latest list of the 10 most-cited safety Standards here. Your OSHA Enforcement Roundup for this week:

Two Pennsylvania employers were cited and penalized for alleged safety violations related to steel plant explosion.

The Department of Labor cited two Pennsylvania employers after a Federal investigation into an August 2025 explosion at a steel company’s worksite that injured 12 and claimed the lives of two employees. OSHA concluded the two companies exposed workers to explosion, struck-by, and high-pressure injection hazards.

Federal safety inspectors determined that the companies failed to:

• Use required safety management and energy control practices for hazardous work involving flammable gas.
• Provide a relief valve for a high-pressure water system.
• Coordinate energy control practices for hazardous work involving flammable gas.

OSHA cited the steel company with seven serious and one other-than-serious violations and proposed $118,214 in penalties. The Agency cited a contractor with four serious and two other-than-serious violations and proposed $61,473 in penalties.

OSHA proposed more than $1.2 million in penalties after investigating a Massachusetts concrete and earthwork contractor.

OSHA has again cited an Easton concrete and earthwork contractor for willfully failing to protect workers from cave-in and excavation hazards and proposed more than $1.2 million in fines after a follow-up inspection uncovered numerous willful violations.

The Agency cited the employer for seven willful and four serious violations related to excavation hazards. Inspectors found the employer failed to train workers on unsafe trenching and excavation hazards, provide adequate protection from cave-ins, require daily excavation inspections, follow trench shield installation standards, and backfill shields to prevent hazardous movement.

A New Jersey vegetable processing company was cited for 16 alleged willful and other safety violations.

The Department of Labor has cited a fresh-cut vegetable processing company for willfully and repeatedly violating safety requirements after a worker was fatally injured while cleaning and sanitizing a machine.

Inspectors determined that the company failed to implement proper lockout/tagout procedures to protect workers from severe injuries during sanitation activities.

OSHA issued citations for 16 safety violations related to the lack of lockout/tagout procedures, as well as failure to implement lockout/tagout requirements or provide training, and proposed penalties totaling $1,125,484. Additionally, the on-site temporary employment agency was cited for three serious violations with proposed penalties of $33,100 for not implementing or training workers on lockout/tagout procedures.

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