OSHA Hits AK Steel With $200,000 Fine for Recordkeeping

OSHA has cited AK Steel Corp. for allegedly failing to record hearing hazards at the company's Butler Works facility in Butler, Pa.

Proposed penalties total $206,000.

After receiving a complaint, OSHA inspected the facility on Dec. 3. Inspectors cited AK Steel with four willful violations carrying a penalty of $200,000, and six other-than-serious violations with a penalty of $6,000.

The willful violations stem from the company's alleged failure, from 2007 to 2010, to record standard threshold shifts (STS) on the OSHA 300 Log when employees' hearing tests revealed that they experienced a work-related STS and the employees' total hearing level was 25 decibels or more above audiometric zero, according to OSHA.

The other-than-serious violations are due to the company's alleged failure to properly record other work-related injuries and illnesses occurring in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

The Butler Works facility produces specialty steels and has 1,500 employees, according to OSHA.

West Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel makes flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products for automotive, appliance, construction and electrical-power markets, according to the company's website.