A small New York hardwood flooring manufacturer was ordered to pay more than $160,000 for a number of willful violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

In U.S. Secretary of Labor v. Timberline Hardwood Floors LLC, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission on Thursday affirmed in a final decision the citations against the manufacturer that ranged from blocked emergency exits and unguarded machinery to violations for a lack of training and no hearing conservation program.

In 2012, a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector cited Timberline Hardwood Dimensions Inc. in Fulton, New York,  for the lack of a hearing conservation program, forklift training and hazard communication standards and improper lockout/tagout. The owner, Thomas Vaura, signed abatement certifications claiming that every citation item had been abated. The company was discontinued and Timberline Hardwood Floors LLC was created in 2014 with the same owner, at the same location and with much of the same staff of between eight and 14 employees. 

In 2018, an OSHA inspector visited the facility and found that the company had not abated the 2012 violations and found multiple additional violations. The inspector found that six of the company’s workers had been exposed to continuous noise above acceptable limits and that the company still lacked a hazard communication program. The inspector found an emergency exit deadbolted and without illuminated signage, air compressed air guns at three times the p.s.i. recommended for cleaning, unguarded upcut saws, a circuit box with live openings, no lockout/tagout procedures and a lack of training for workers maintaining saws and other cutting machinery.

The commission affirmed the court’s decision and assessed the company more than $166,000 for mostly willful violations. The commission found that the company’s lack of a hearing conservation program constituted a willful, repeat and serious violation that merited the assessed penalty of $51,734, and also affirmed the penalties of more than  $40,000 for the lack of a lockout/tagout program and lack of proper training.