Safety Officials Hit Plant With $1.6M In Fines After Deadly Blast

Federal workplace safety regulators hit the owners of A.B. Specialty Silicones in Waukegan, Illinois with fines totaling $1.6 million after an explosion and fire that killed four employees in May, according to an article from Patch. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reportedly cited the chemical company for 12 “willful” safety violations.

According to Patch, OSHA indicated that the company fostered an unsafe work environment with deadly consequences by ignoring safety and health requirements. OSHA singled out the company’s use of “forklifts powered by liquid propane to transport volatile, flammable liquids in areas where employees handled and processed volatile liquids and gases” as creating the potential for ignition and electrical equipment and installation in the production area that were not compliant with federal standards nor approved for the location. The blast reportedly led to four deaths, three additional injuries and more than $1 million dollars in damages.

Read the entire article here.