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The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) received 353 referrals of alleged safety and health violations, according to newly compiled 2022 fiscal year data.
One referral led MIOSHA to issue a "cease operations order" which prevented a possible building collapse at a manufacturing facility in 2022. It is the first cease operation order MIOSHA had issued in several years.
The condemned portion of the facility is currently undergoing reconstruction.
"A cease operations order is a powerful legal tool that we use in very limited circumstances," MIOSHA General Industry Safety and Health Division Director Adrian Rocskay, said.
Acting on a referral from a county building inspector, MIOSHA determined the mill was operating in a building deemed unsafe for occupancy last July.
Previously, the mill hired an outside engineering firm to evaluate the deteriorating roof, which covered an approximately 68,000-square-foot portion of the plant. Engineers determined the roof collapsed in three separate locations, which left the remaining framing severely corroded, and at high risk of imminent collapse. The engineering firm shared the results with the building inspector after the employer did not provide engineers with an employee evacuation plan in the hazardous area.
The engineering firm and building inspector advised the employer to cease operations and remove employees from the compromised section until repairs could be made, but the employer did not.
County officials began to take steps to obtain an order to shut down the mill operation in the impacted portion but needed to wait several days for a judge's approval. The referral was made to MIOSHA due to the need for immediate action.
The Director of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity authorized MIOSHA to issue a cease operations order under the condition employees were still working in the suspected area. Within hours of the initial referral, a MIOSHA safety officer issued the order when four employees were observed working in the area.
Following the order, the company immediately removed the four workers, and MIOSHA placed cease operation tags at all entrances to the area.
In addition, the company cordoned off the zone with a red chain and held a safety stand-down to inform employees they were not allowed in that section until further notice.
Employers in the State of Michigan must ensure buildings they operate are structurally sound and not subject to imminent collapse. Under section 31 of the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act, MIOSHA can issue a cease operations order if a determination of an imminent danger has been made.
Online Penalty Payment Debuts in May
On May 1, 2023, MIOSHA will launch a new online penalty payment system which will allow employers to pay citation penalties quickly and securely, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Employers will be able to use: electronic check (e-check), debit & credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express).
Note: No transaction fees for e-checks, but credit card transactions are subject to a 2.5% transaction fee.
The online payment option will only be available for those who received a final determination or final order of the board. Citation payments will not be able to be made if an inspection is still in any stage of the appeal process.
The new online service will not display payment history.
For information regarding your payment history, now or in the future, employers should call 517-284-7750 for General Industry Safety and Health Division citation payments or 517-284-7680 for Construction Safety and Health Division citation payments.
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Did you know that just one cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car? This and other hazards are what make excavation and trenching operations some of the most hazardous jobs in construction.
Chief among those hazards are cave-ins, which have a higher likelihood of resulting in fatalities. Other potential hazards associated with trenching work include falling loads, hazardous atmospheres and hazards from mobile equipment.
Don't let an unprotected trench become an early grave. Employers are responsible for ensuring that workers enter trenches only after protections are in place to address cave-in hazards.
To help employers and employees learn about the hazards of excavations, as well as how to abate those hazards, join MIOSHA for a Live Webinar Panel Discussion. The panel discussion will include representatives from companies and associations throughout Michigan.
Date: April 13, 2023
Time: 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Where: Virtual Teams Event
Contact: Sheryl Ulin, Email: ce.programs@umich.edu
Sponsors: University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health Safety and Engineering and the Michigan Industrial Hygiene Society
Safety and health advice you can trust for your small business
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) On-Site Consultation Program offers occupational safety and health services to small and medium-sized businesses throughout the state of Michigan. Highly trained safety and occupational health professionals from MIOSHA On-Site Consultation program work with employers to identify and fix safety and health hazards in workplaces, provide advice for compliance with MIOSHA standards, train and educate workers, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs.
Consultations are no-cost and confidential
MIOSHA on-site consultations are no-cost, confidential and voluntary, and are separate from MIOSHA enforcement efforts. To take advantage of this service, an employer requests a consultation visit, determines the scope of the visit and agrees to correct any serious hazards or imminent dangers identified during the visit in a timely manner. The visit may focus on a single concern at a facility or involve a comprehensive hazard assessment of the entire facility and its operations at the employer's request. Employers are granted a deferral from MIOSHA programmed enforcement inspections while working with the MIOSHA On-Site Consultation program.
Consultants perform safety and health evaluations at your worksite
MIOSHA on-site consultants and other consultants nationwide conduct more than 20,000 visits annually. Each year, more than 2 million workers are protected from hazards after employers take corrective actions identified during consultation visits.
Small and medium-sized businesses that work with On-Site Consultation programs benefit from enhanced worker morale and reductions in injury and illness rates, lost workdays, workers’ compensation costs, equipment damage and product losses. Read Safety Pays! for more information.
If you are a small business employer interested in a no-cost, confidential consultation visit by highly trained consultants, you can find the consultant in your area by visiting the Consultation Directory, submitting an online request form, or by calling 517-284-7720.
For more information, read the MIOSHA Onsite Consultation , Benefits of Onsite Consultation Services brochure.
There have been 6 work-related fatalities reported to MIOSHA in 2023. The information below shares preliminary details about the most recent fatalities reported to MIOSHA, which are believed to be covered by the MIOSH Act. The descriptions reflect information provided to MIOSHA at the initial report of the incidents and are not the result of the official MIOSHA investigations.
Preliminary summaries of the most recent 2023 incidents:
A 57-year-old driver operating a concrete mixing truck became stuck while making a delivery at a job site. A contractor attempted to pull out the truck by connecting a tow cable from a bulldozer. The bulldozer's hitch pin broke off, and then tow cable whipped trough the concrete truck windshield, fatally striking the driver.
A 54-year-old truck driver was kneeling over a single-piece rim wheel and tire assembly. While inflating the tire, the sidewall burst, and the assembly shot up fatally striking the man.
A 28-year-old Southwest Michigan firefighter responded to a call for a broken tree branch hanging on a power line. After the fire department secured the scene, a different power line broke and struck the firefighter who was knocked down and electrocuted.
A 58-year-old Van Buren County road worker was part of a four-man crew doing repair work. The victim was performing traffic control when he was struck by a commuter vehicle.
A 34-year-old truck driver was on route performing trash collection. The victim had exited the garbage truck and was placing a garbage hopper into the hopper lift. He proceeded to the right side of the truck to operate the hopper controls with his back to the road when an oncoming commuter vehicle struck the garbage truck from the rear fatally striking the victim.
A 39-year-old EMT worker was driving an ambulance on I-75 to when he came upon a vehicle that crash into a viaduct wall near an exit ramp. When the victim exited the ambulance to assist the driver, he was fatally struck by an oncoming vehicle, which also fatally struck the driver of the crashed vehicle.
February 13, 2023 - Small Farming Operations and Small Employers in Low Hazard Industries - Guidelines for MIOSHA Activity
Variances from MIOSHA standards must be made available to the public in accordance with Part 12, Variances (R408.22201 to 408.22251). MIOSHA variances are published online at:
michigan.gov/mioshavariances.
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