I am wondering if the settlement was so low because there were safety procedures violated.
ETA: I am really confused here. How exactly did the safety manager break the lockout rules? Were there not any lockout tags?
This is from another article I read:
The company's former safety manager Saul Florez pleaded guilty for willfully violating lockout tagout rules, which are safeguards to ensure the safety of employees. Florez was sentenced to three years of formal probation, 30 days of community labor, $19,000 in fines, and has to take classes on lockout tagouts. Bumble Bee's Director of Plant Operations Angel Rodriguez has to do 320 hours of community service, pay about $11,400 in fines, and is also required to take lockout tagout classes.
The settlement requires that Bumble Bee Foods use $3 million to replace their outdated machines so their employees will never have to go inside the steam cookers again, pay $1.5 million in restitution to the Melena's family, pay $750,000 in fines, penalties and court costs, and $750,000 to the District Attorney's Environmental Enforcement Fund for the investigation and prosecution of the case. They will also have to install video cameras in their ovens, and managers and workers will be required to get safety training.
I'm interested to talk to my dad about this verdict. His entire job is safety and accident inspection, OSHA training, and that kind of thing. I think he might have an aneurysm if he hears the words, "willfully violating lockout tagout rules."
I am wondering if the settlement was so low because there were safety procedures violated.
ETA: I am really confused here. How exactly did the safety manager break the lockout rules? Were there not any lockout tags?
This is from another article I read:
The company's former safety manager Saul Florez pleaded guilty for willfully violating lockout tagout rules, which are safeguards to ensure the safety of employees. Florez was sentenced to three years of formal probation, 30 days of community labor, $19,000 in fines, and has to take classes on lockout tagouts. Bumble Bee's Director of Plant Operations Angel Rodriguez has to do 320 hours of community service, pay about $11,400 in fines, and is also required to take lockout tagout classes.
The settlement requires that Bumble Bee Foods use $3 million to replace their outdated machines so their employees will never have to go inside the steam cookers again, pay $1.5 million in restitution to the Melena's family, pay $750,000 in fines, penalties and court costs, and $750,000 to the District Attorney's Environmental Enforcement Fund for the investigation and prosecution of the case. They will also have to install video cameras in their ovens, and managers and workers will be required to get safety training.
I'm interested to talk to my dad about this verdict. His entire job is safety and accident inspection, OSHA training, and that kind of thing. I think he might have an aneurysm if he hears the words, "willfully violating lockout tagout rules."
So Bumble Bee was trying to cut costs? There are safer machines but they didn't want to spend the money? Also did they not train employees? Why did the guy enter the machine if there were no lockout tags?
I'm surprised that anyone who willfully or accidentally fails to follow lockout/tagout procedures gets to keep their jobs. I worked in the semiconductor manufacturing industry for several years. If a field engineer failed to lockout/tagout when doing maintenance on any of the tools, he/she was immediately escorted off premises and fired. No discussion. Nothing. Failure to follow OSHA procedures maims and kills workers.
I'm interested to talk to my dad about this verdict. His entire job is safety and accident inspection, OSHA training, and that kind of thing. I think he might have an aneurysm if he hears the words, "willfully violating lockout tagout rules."
what would be a justification for violating the rules? they are just a PITA?
Yes and it takes time. In my former industry, the amount of time a semiconductor tool was offline, the customer was losing money in the millions. Some customers would encourage our FEs to skip safety procedures in order to reduce offline time. However, the person who would be most punished for the violation were the FEs and their company, not the customer.
I am wondering if the settlement was so low because there were safety procedures violated.
ETA: I am really confused here. How exactly did the safety manager break the lockout rules? Were there not any lockout tags?
This is from another article I read:
The company's former safety manager Saul Florez pleaded guilty for willfully violating lockout tagout rules, which are safeguards to ensure the safety of employees. Florez was sentenced to three years of formal probation, 30 days of community labor, $19,000 in fines, and has to take classes on lockout tagouts. Bumble Bee's Director of Plant Operations Angel Rodriguez has to do 320 hours of community service, pay about $11,400 in fines, and is also required to take lockout tagout classes.
The settlement requires that Bumble Bee Foods use $3 million to replace their outdated machines so their employees will never have to go inside the steam cookers again, pay $1.5 million in restitution to the Melena's family, pay $750,000 in fines, penalties and court costs, and $750,000 to the District Attorney's Environmental Enforcement Fund for the investigation and prosecution of the case. They will also have to install video cameras in their ovens, and managers and workers will be required to get safety training.
I'm interested to talk to my dad about this verdict. His entire job is safety and accident inspection, OSHA training, and that kind of thing. I think he might have an aneurysm if he hears the words, "willfully violating lockout tagout rules."
It looks like the $1.5 million is restitution paid to the family as part of the criminal investigation, so they may be able to obtain more damages from a civil suit too.
I'm guessing one reason the manager was fined/found guilty was that the company culture was such that they either were not trained on lockout tagout, or the rules were just not enforced, since the guy was found to be in willful violation. "Technically, this is OSHA's rule, but whatever." Probably due to time saving/cost cutting. It's the employer's responsibility, and therefore the supervisor's as well, to make sure employees follow OSHA regulations.
I just walked around a construction site yesterday and was on HIGH ALERT the whole time and it always crosses my mind how easy it would be to just die a horrific death out there. But this? THIS IS NEXT LEVEL SHIT.
So the family gets $1.5. The same amount as the government? And the family's lawyer(s) will get what around 30% of that. That's fucked up.
This was a fine in the criminal case, so trust me, the DA isn't getting 30% of that.
It seems that a civil suit will be imminent, especially now that there's a guilty plea on the criminal side. I'm sure that will lead to a much larger settlement (and that civil attorney getting a cut).