ATLANTA -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed $68,600 in fines against Southeast Independent Delivery Services for two violations of federal workplace safety standards.
OSHA opened an investigation in February 2007 following the death of a fleet mechanic who was pinned between two trucks while performing maintenance on one of the vehicles at the company's worksite in Suwanee, GA.
"This was a preventable tragedy. Management had been aware of the need to take action since 2004 and had sufficient time to implement the necessary safety procedures but failed to do so," said Gei-Thae Breezley, director of OSHA's Atlanta East Area Office.
OSHA issued one willful violation with a proposed penalty of $63,000 for alleged failure to implement and train employees on a lockout/tagout program to be used when performing vehicle maintenance. OSHA also issued one serious violation with a proposed penalty of $5,600 for the company's failure to assure that employees used wheel chocks or applied the parking brake when working on vehicles.
Prior to this incident, the agency had issued safety violation citations to the company following a December 2006 vehicle collision in the yard which seriously injured one employee.
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