An Urbana automobile part factory, owned by University alumnus and local billionare Shahid Khan, faces a $21,000 fine for four violations classified as “serious.”
The citations were issued to the factory, Flex-N-Gate Corp., on Oct. 30 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and claimed that the Guardian West facility was endangering its workers’ lives.
The first citation said the dust collectors in the plant “lacked methods of explosion protection,” while the other three focused on hazards with the conveyers, robots and other mechanical equipment that would unexpectedly energize. A “serious” violation is issued when there is a “substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which them employer knew or should have known.”
“Flex-N-Gate failed to ensure that all power sources were properly protected — were properly turned off even — in order to prevent accidental injury to their employees,” said spokesperson for OSHA Scott Allen.
Guardian West declined to comment.
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Jackie Campbell, paint department worker at Guardian West, said the conditions of the factory were dangerous.
“I love my job, but I have a lot of issues with the safety,” Campbell said. “I have concerns about the air quality. It always looked foggy, and it smells. But they say some smells are not harmful. … There’s dust all over. If you took a magnet in there, over eight hours it’d be full of metal.”
Allen said Guardian West has three choices for how to respond to the citations.
“The company has 15 days after the issuance of the citations to either request an informal conference with OSHA to discuss the violations, or they can contest the violations to an independent occupational safety review commission,” said Allen.
Guardian West can also accept the charges, pay the fine and show OSHA that the problems have been resolved. The company has yet to take any of these actions but must by Nov. 14, Allen said.
“If it weren’t for OSHA, nothing would have got done,” Campbell said. “I feel a little safer now, but there’s still a lot of issues.”
After a December 2011 inspection, OSHA charged the company was charged with nine severe safety and health violations, four of which focused on workers’ exposure to dangerous chemicals.
The fines totaled $57,000 but were reduced following an informal conference with the agency.
Austin can be reached at [email protected].
