OSHA issued willful, serious and repeat violations for alleged safety infractions found during an inspection triggered by a worker fatality. A US Forest Service (USFS) employee fell 225 feet while performing maintenance at the USFS Awke Mountain telecommunications site near Yakutat, AK, in late August 2006. The willful citation alleges failure by the employer to provide adequate shelter or protection from the elements leading to employees attempting emergency egress (departure) down treacherous mountain terrain. The serious citation states that employees were exposed to environmental and fall hazards due to a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for inclement weather conditions. It also alleges that workers were not training in emergency equipment and preparedness for emergency egress situations. The repeat citation states that the forest service failed to inspect workplace operations on an annual basis or more often for work areas with high-risk operations. USFS was also cited for failure to maintain a log or summary of work-related injuries and illnesses for an establishment that had been in operation for more than one year. There is no proposed penalty in this case because OSHA cannot issue fines to other federal agencies. However, the problems revealed during the inspection must be fixed.

[Release Number 07-118-SEA (07-09), Jan. 25, 2007]