OSHA cites Springfield-based Ridewell in worker's death

A Springfield manufacturer's failure to comply with safety standards contributed to the death of a 62-year-old parts assembler who died in a January factory accident, according to federal workplace safety regulators.

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, on Monday cited Springfield-based Ridewell Corp. with a "willful" violation for " failing to protect workers from operating parts of machinery." But a safety consultant for the company said the equipment involved had been inspected by OSHA on several occasions and never cited.

The worker killed in a Jan. 19 incident, who was not named in OSHA's news release or in a brief report on the agency's website, died after being struck by a metal spacer thrown from a 4-ton hydraulic press. The release said the worker, who had been employed by the company 31 years, suffered multiple broken bones and internal injuries.

Ridewell, located north of Interstate 44 along U.S. 65, builds suspension products for trucks, trailers, buses and recreational vehicles.

The release said the machine the man was working on lacked required safety mechanisms. Barbara Theriot, OSHA's area director in Kansas City, placed the blame squarely with the company:

"This tragic loss could have been prevented," Theriot said in the release. "Ridewell workers are at risk for life-threatening hazards every time machinery is operated because this company chooses not to keep them safe."

OSHA has proposed penalties of $71,000 against Ridewell Corp., which has 15 days to appeal the findings, comply or request an informal conference with OSHA. In addition to the willful violation related to safety mechanisms, OSHA also cited Ridewell with a less severe safety violation for failing to provide a "First Report of Injury document" in the required amount of time.

Ridewell is contesting the idea that the accident was due to "willful" negligence.

"Ridewell Corporation has had a very active safety program for many years," said Jake Woolfenden, president of Summit Safety Group, a consulting company with offices in Kansas City and Springfield that is assisting Ridewell as it deals with OSHA.

In a statement Monday, Woolfenden said Ridewell was "a decade-long member of an elite OSHA program known as SHARPs (Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program)" that included only a few dozen companies in Missouri. OSHA's website describes the program as one that "recognizes small business employers who operate an exemplary injury and illness prevention program."

"In this program, Ridewell Corporation actively allowed OSHA into their facility on a routine basis to ensure safety and health was maintained to the highest possible standard," the statement said. "The willful violation they are being cited for pertains to the same pieces of equipment that had been reviewed by several OSHA inspectors on numerous occasions and never cited."

Woolfenden said the company and its employees "continue to grieve the loss of a long-time teammate" and that it was "disheartening to hear" OSHA say the company had chosen to create a working environment that was "willfully" unsafe.

His statement said the violation OSHA described doesn't meet the legal standard for a "willful" violation, which requires that "(t)here must be a conscious disregard for the standard, not just a missed opportunity to be safer."

"This is hardly the attitude of an employer that teamed with OSHA for nearly a decade and willingly invited OSHA in to assist with constant improvements for the sake of their employees," Woolfenden said, adding that "Ridewell Corporation continues to pursue numerous avenues by which it can create a safer and healthier workplace for all employees working in their facility."

He said the company, along with Summit Safety Group, planned to meet with OSHA for an informal hearing Tuesday to dispute the findings.

According to OSHA records, the death at Ridewell in January was the first workplace fatality in Springfield since November 2011, when a worker at Paul Mueller Company, William "Cole" Hambelton, was crushed between a truck and tractor trailer.