October 5 to 11 is National Fire Prevention Week (www.nfpa.org/safety-information/fire-prevention-week). Inspire your employees to participate in fire drill training by sharing the news about how a failure to train and drill on evacuation routes earned Hawaii companies large fines.
The Hawaii State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ (DLIR) Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division (HIOSH) has issued 59 serious citations with proposed fines of up to $89,265 to companies that shared a warehouse in Honolulu.
Unicold and 10 tenants in its refrigerated food warehouse face $340,595 in total proposed fines following joint inspections conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and HIOSH.
The serious violations inspectors found include providing only one exit door, which was not side hinged; failure to select appropriate exit routes; failure to train employees in the routes and hold periodic evacuation drills; neglecting to label routes that were not exits; obstructions to exit doors; and failure to train employees in the hazards of ammonia.
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A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
“The workers were exposed to grave hazards due to the employers’ decision to obstruct emergency routes to enlarge the available storage space,” said DLIR Director Dwight Takamine. “We are very fortunate that a tragic event did not occur . . .”
“We hope the employers will act swiftly to correct the serious issues identified through this collaborative effort between OSHA and HIOSH,” said Galen Lemke, director of the Honolulu federal OSHA office. “This is a good example of how federal and state actions can help achieve our common goal of providing safe and healthy workplaces for Hawaii’s workforce.”
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Other serious violations cited included hazards relating to improper use of forklifts as personnel lifts, forklifts in disrepair, expired training credentials for forklift operators, unguarded machinery, damaged storage systems, and inadequate electrical equipment.
Why It Matters
- Your employees may see fire and evacuation drills as unnecessary disruptions of work operations.
- Remind workers that practice makes perfect, so their safety in an emergency can be greatly improved if they know exactly how and where to evacuate.
- Lead by example and take fire drill evacuations seriously so workers know how important these emergency preparations are.