Carwash Operator Fined $446K for Lockout/Tagout, Other Violations
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined New Jersey-based ModWash LLC $446,864 for exposing workers to hazardous energy risks by failing to lock out equipment before maintenance and lacking proper energy control practices.
- The company received two repeat citations for lacking clear lockout procedures, failing to develop specific plans for controlling energy sources, and not training employees on lockout/tagout processes.
- Five additional citations covered the company’s failure to implement a noise monitoring system, establish baseline audiograms for employees, train workers exposed to noise above 85 decibels, maintain proper lockout/tagout devices and ensure those devices were attached to machines before maintenance.
- ModWash has 15 business days from receiving the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before an independent review; the company has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Baker Hughes Fined $31K After Death of Warehouse Worker
- OSHA fined Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations $31,250 for two serious violations after a warehouse and yard principal was killed at the company’s Broussard, Louisiana facility in June 2023, when a roughly two-ton downhole flex stabilizer fell on him as he moved it by hand across a sawhorse.
- OSHA cited the company for failing to keep the workplace free from recognized hazards and for failing to maintain an orderly work area, noting the site was congested with tools and left little room for Richard to evacuate when the equipment fell.
- Investigators found Baker Hughes’ own operations manual required using mobile equipment to move heavy tools rather than hands, but the company failed to follow that procedure despite mobile equipment being available, and was aware employees regularly handled tools weighing over 50 pounds manually.
- The worker had not received refresher safety training in seven years and when asked why he was rolling the equipment by hand, a supervisor said it was a routine task.
Heat Protection Bill Fails for Third Time As Deaths Mount
- The Rhode Island General Assembly has failed for a third straight year to pass the Extreme Temperatures Employee Protection Act, which would require private employers to provide paid rest breaks, shade, drinking water and quarterly heat/cold safety training, following the June 2024, death of Daniel Thompson, 49, a hotel maintenance worker who collapsed and died from heat illness.
- Rhode Island has no enforceable heat-safety standard of its own, and federal OSHA data shows two other construction workers died from heat-related illness in 2018 and 2022, with nine employees hospitalized for heat exposure between 2017 and 2025.
- Opposition to the bill came from groups including the Rhode Island Chapter of Associated General Contractors and the Rhode Island Business Leaders Alliance, who argued the law was unnecessary or premature given OSHA’s own pending federal heat standard.
- Complicating matters, any federal OSHA heat standard would preempt Rhode Island’s efforts since the state lacks its own federally approved OSHA plan.