Region 5 News Release: 12-236-CHI
Feb. 22, 2012
Contact: Scott Allen Rhonda Burke
Phone: 312-353-6976 312-353-6976
Email: allen.scott@dol.gov burke.rhonda@dol.gov

US Labor Department's OSHA cites Miniature Precision Components
in Richland Center, Wis., for failing to protect workers from burns

RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Miniature Precision Components Inc. with one willful violation for failing to provide effective personal protective equipment for workers at its Richland Center facility. Proposed fines total $55,000.

"Failing to protect employees from burns while they are working with materials manufactured at high temperatures shows a disregard for their safety," said Kim Stille, OSHA's area director in Madison. "Employers have a responsibility to be aware of the hazards that exist in their workplace and ensure that work environments are healthful and safe."

The violation was cited after an investigation prompted by a complaint determined that employees working on mold machines and exposed to hot temperatures that could result in burns were provided with ineffective personal protective equipment. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Miniature Precision Components designs and produces injection molded components. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Walworth with facilities in Prairie du Chien and Delavan, as well as in Michigan and Arizona. Prior to this inspection, the company's Richland Center facility, which employs approximately 110 workers, had been inspected by OSHA a total of five times since 1999, resulting in the issuance of 11 citations.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Madison Area Office at 608-441-5388.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling 202-693-7828 or TTY 202-693-7755.