Dec. 16, 2015

Forklift operators exposed to 20-foot fall, trip hazards while working
in low-light conditions at St. Louis warehouse

Employer name: FW Warehousing Inc., operating as M J Resurrection Inc., St. Louis, Missouri

Citations received: Dec. 16, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's St. Louis Area Office cited the St. Louis warehouse management company for 15 serious safety violations.

OSHA initiated an inspection after receiving a report of unsafe working conditions at the company's warehouse, commonly known as the Crunden Martin facilities, in the city's industrial district. Investigators found the following:

• Employees were required to move goods and materials in low-light conditions.
• Forklift operators drove vehicles on uneven surfaces and on unguarded platforms, exposing them to fall hazards up to 20 feet.
• Employees were not provided personal protective equipment such as hard hats and chemical resistant attire.
• Multiple electrical safety hazards existed.
• There was a lack of suitable eye wash stations.
• A freight elevator had no working lights.
• Damaged powered industrial vehicles were in use.
• Floors had protruding steel floor plates, loose plywood and deep depressions causing slip, trip and fall hazards.

FW Warehousing operates more than 4-million square feet of warehouse facilities throughout the Midwest, including the St. Louis, Kansas City and Indianapolis metro areas.

Quote: "Allowing forklifts to be operated in low light conditions on open platforms that workers could easily drive off, is a recipe for disaster," said Bill McDonald, OSHA's area director in St. Louis. "FW Warehousing needs to immediately correct the many deficiencies in their facility. Each year hundreds of workers are injured on the job because employers fail to follow basic safety precautions."

Proposed Penalties: $69,300

View Citations here:

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, 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 St. Louis Area Office at (314) 425-4249.

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Media Contacts:

Scott Allen, 312-353-6976, allen.scott@dol.gov
Rhonda Burke, 312-353-6976, burke.rhonda@dol.gov

Release Number: 15-2329-KAN

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