Brew City Brawler

Wisconsin Polishing & Plating facing OSHA fines?

At a time when Republicans are complaining about over-regulation and frivolous lawsuits, it's useful to note that OSHA last year hit Wisconsin Polishing & Plating with a whopping 53 safety violations. According to the OSHA site as of this writing, Wisconsin Polishing & Plating faced more than  $68,000 in fines. The case is still open so the total is subject to change.  

Wisconsin Polishing & Plating, which does hard chrome plating and injection mold finishing, work that involves all kinds of nasty chemicals, has the distinction of being hit with a $7,000 fine for a willful violation. That's fairly rare.

OSHA cracking down on building contractors over safety issues?

Remember when a Milwaukee construction worker fell to his death around this time last year?

Well, apparently OSHA does, as there appear to be a slew of open (keep scrolling past the first page and there's more) and closed (ditto) investigations of contractors resulting in fines over issues involving ladders and failure to provide fall protection. See the open case of Oconomowoc Remodeling for starters.

It's worth remembering, as Republicans seek to roll back safety regulation, that those actions have real life consequences. 

Also, maybe the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel could divert some of the energy they spend writing about dirty kitchens to covering workplace safety issues. And you know what -- it's totally easy to navigate the OSHA site! So easy, in fact, that I plan to be doing more of it in the near future.