The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued $165,400 in penalties to Warren, Michigan-based Central Transport L.L.C. as a part of a settlement agreement which commits the company to improving forklift safety at more than 100 terminals in 26 states.
For several years, OSHA inspections identified a pattern of defective forklifts being used to move, handle, load, and unload freight in at least 11 Central Transport shipping terminals in nine states, the agency said in a statement Wednesday. Their use exposed employees to hazards that could cause crushing or struck-by injuries at multiple locations, including Central Transport's Billerica, Massachusetts, terminal.
OSHA said it filed a complaint last year with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission seeking an order to require Central Transport to remove damaged, defective, and unsafe forklifts and other powered industrial trucks from service at all the company's locations.
The settlement requires Central Transport to hire an independent third-party monitor to evaluate, update and improve their existing procedures for preventive maintenance repairs, operator inspections and safe operation of powered industrial trucks. Central Transport is also required to assign a corporate internal monitor to implement the settlement agreement, conduct random, unannounced visits of at least 20 terminals and work with the third-party monitor to prepare and submit reports, OSHA said.
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