OSHA Office Model of Unsafe Workplace



WASHINGTON, D.C.



A local Occupational Safety and Health Administration office was labeled "Gross Violator" of OSHA standards for workplace safety, Tuesday.



Among the violations included 250 lb. boxes of safety manuals on the top shelf of an otherwise empty aluminum-frame bookcase, 7 surge supressors daisy-chained together, each one full of high-voltage equipment, and a leaky pipe that dripped water into the server room.



When questioned about the violations, Facilities Manager Roger Cassady responded, "Well, when we first got that shipment of manuals, Gary [Urling], my assistant, was out on vacation, so I had to store them myself. I threw my back out lifting those boxes to the top of the shelf, so when it came time to take them down and ship them out, I couldn't get them down."



The Facilities Manager isn't the only one being blamed for the reprimand. Many of the hazard sightings were of employees not obeying posted safety rules. In one incident, an employee was using a screw driver to try and pry jammed paper strips out of the paper shredder. Eventually the screw driver became stuck itself, at which point he began using his hand. When he realized the shredder wasn't operating because the power strip it was plugged into had been turned off, he turned the shredder to reverse and turned the power on, with the screwdriver stuck inside.



In another incident, an employee was trying to fix a shorted light fixture in the ceiling of the server room. The room has been dubbed "the vault" by employees due to its abnormally high ceiling. The employee was standing on the second-to-top rung of a paint ladder, which had been set up in the puddle formed from the leaky pipe, and was using a power drill, with the cord of the drill hanging down in the puddle.



The OSHA office has the opportunity to try and fix the safety hazards within the next 6 weeks, or face fines of up to $50,000. When asked to comment on the inspection findings, Peter McCalab, office supervisor said, "this is all a bunch of nonsense. This office is as safe as any. If you inspected any average American workplace, you would find that they do the same, if not more dangerous, things every day."



When contacted for a follow up, F.U. News learned that McCalab was in the hospital, being treated for injuries he had sustained when he fell from his executive chair, upon which he was standing while trying to fix a jam in the ceiling fan in his office.