A recent story about an Amityville metal fabrication shop blatantly ignoring repeated warnings and fines for violating numerous citations from OSHA investigators should make all workers pause to think about the safety of their own workplace. There are some employers who stubbornly continue to cut corners despite high fines and disregard for the health and safety of their workers.
Many employees are aware of problems that exist in their workplace and their employers’ propensity to save money by risking safety. Unfortunately, in order to keep their paychecks coming in, many choose to remain silent about workplace dangers. They fail to report continued problems in order to keep their jobs and not make waves with management.
Not all employees keep up with investigations and citations issued by OSHA concerning violations but then there are those who are familiar with investigation results and still continue to work, putting their lives at risk every day. It is important for workers to realize the potential for injury on the job when working in places that violate the regulations of OSHA. No job should be worth putting your health and your life at risk to earn a living.
Many people do not realize just how serious OSHA violations are in the workplace until something actually happens. For instance, in the Amityville story, the company was cited repeatedly for having locked and blocked fire exits throughout the building. Imagine if there was a fire and lives were lost because of negligence on the part of the employer even after OSHA pointed out the dangers.
