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TonyB
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From That's Racin'
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Federal labor officials cited the Daytona International Speedway Friday for failing to enforce safety procedures that could have prevented the February death of a track worker during a stock-car race.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued $11,175 in proposed fines, including a $6,300 penalty for the alleged violation that contributed to the death of track-crew supervisor Roy H. Weaver III on Feb. 8. The other $4,875 in penalties stem from other potential work hazards, including hearing loss, that federal investigators found during inspections at the track, but were not related to the accident.
Weaver, 44, of Ormond Beach, Fla., was struck and killed by a race car during the IPOWERacing 150 while he was removing debris from the track. Several racing officials said at the time of the crash that the fact that the driver involved, Ray Paprota, is a paraplegic was not a factor in the accident.
James Borders, area director of the Jacksonville office for OSHA, said a fine against a racing venue for a worker's death is rare.
The citations against the Speedway are ranked as "serious," meaning that Speedway officials knew or should have known about the potential dangers to its employees. The maximum penalty for a serious citation is $7,000. Borders said the penalty for Weaver's death was adjusted because OSHA had not inspected the track before and had no prior history with the Speedway.
OSHA, which is part of the U.S. Labor Department, has issued larger fines in the past-up to $70,000 for a workplace fatality in cases when an investigation found a company had willfully disregarded safety standards.
Speedway spokesman David Talley didn't comment on the federal investigation Friday. "Until our legal team has had a chance to read the report, we will not comment," Talley said.
The Speedway has 15 days to pay the fines, have a meeting with OSHA officials, or appeal the citation to OSHA's review commission.
Officials with IPOWERacing, the racing body that sanctioned the Feb. 8 event, also declined comment, saying they had not had a chance to read the federal report.
Weaver's family couldn't be reached for comment on Friday.
According to the 13-page citation released Friday, OSHA investigators found that the Speedway did not enforce safety procedures concerning when employees may enter the track during a race. Borders said the track should have a policy similar to what fire departments follow when fighting a major fire.
"The main principle is that somebody is totally in charge of the situation and is fed all the information needed to decide when it is safe to go in," Borders said. "You need to make sure that decisions are made on good, reliable information and all the people are trained to follow that."
Such safety procedures must be put in writing, they must be strictly enforced and employees need to be trained on how to follow them, he said.
In the case of Weaver's death, the track should have required Weaver to stay in a cleanup truck and not go onto the track at Turn 2 to remove debris until race operations officials had information about what was on the scene, according to the OSHA report.
Federal officials also cited the track for not adequately protecting workers from noise levels higher than 85 decibels. The report says that a security employee working on Feb. 14 was exposed to about 98.1 decibels while working in pit road and the garage area. According to hearing experts, continued exposure to noise above 85 decibels will cause hearing loss over time.
The report also cited the Speedway for other potential problems found during OSHA investigations. According to the report, an employee clearing material on the racetrack apron wasn't wearing a helmet while cars passed by, a radio headset had spots of blood that weren't cleaned before being stored, and the Speedway didn't check that medical workers had up-to-date Hepatitis B vaccinations and annual training about blood-borne diseases.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Federal labor officials cited the Daytona International Speedway Friday for failing to enforce safety procedures that could have prevented the February death of a track worker during a stock-car race.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued $11,175 in proposed fines, including a $6,300 penalty for the alleged violation that contributed to the death of track-crew supervisor Roy H. Weaver III on Feb. 8. The other $4,875 in penalties stem from other potential work hazards, including hearing loss, that federal investigators found during inspections at the track, but were not related to the accident.
Weaver, 44, of Ormond Beach, Fla., was struck and killed by a race car during the IPOWERacing 150 while he was removing debris from the track. Several racing officials said at the time of the crash that the fact that the driver involved, Ray Paprota, is a paraplegic was not a factor in the accident.
James Borders, area director of the Jacksonville office for OSHA, said a fine against a racing venue for a worker's death is rare.
The citations against the Speedway are ranked as "serious," meaning that Speedway officials knew or should have known about the potential dangers to its employees. The maximum penalty for a serious citation is $7,000. Borders said the penalty for Weaver's death was adjusted because OSHA had not inspected the track before and had no prior history with the Speedway.
OSHA, which is part of the U.S. Labor Department, has issued larger fines in the past-up to $70,000 for a workplace fatality in cases when an investigation found a company had willfully disregarded safety standards.
Speedway spokesman David Talley didn't comment on the federal investigation Friday. "Until our legal team has had a chance to read the report, we will not comment," Talley said.
The Speedway has 15 days to pay the fines, have a meeting with OSHA officials, or appeal the citation to OSHA's review commission.
Officials with IPOWERacing, the racing body that sanctioned the Feb. 8 event, also declined comment, saying they had not had a chance to read the federal report.
Weaver's family couldn't be reached for comment on Friday.
According to the 13-page citation released Friday, OSHA investigators found that the Speedway did not enforce safety procedures concerning when employees may enter the track during a race. Borders said the track should have a policy similar to what fire departments follow when fighting a major fire.
"The main principle is that somebody is totally in charge of the situation and is fed all the information needed to decide when it is safe to go in," Borders said. "You need to make sure that decisions are made on good, reliable information and all the people are trained to follow that."
Such safety procedures must be put in writing, they must be strictly enforced and employees need to be trained on how to follow them, he said.
In the case of Weaver's death, the track should have required Weaver to stay in a cleanup truck and not go onto the track at Turn 2 to remove debris until race operations officials had information about what was on the scene, according to the OSHA report.
Federal officials also cited the track for not adequately protecting workers from noise levels higher than 85 decibels. The report says that a security employee working on Feb. 14 was exposed to about 98.1 decibels while working in pit road and the garage area. According to hearing experts, continued exposure to noise above 85 decibels will cause hearing loss over time.
The report also cited the Speedway for other potential problems found during OSHA investigations. According to the report, an employee clearing material on the racetrack apron wasn't wearing a helmet while cars passed by, a radio headset had spots of blood that weren't cleaned before being stored, and the Speedway didn't check that medical workers had up-to-date Hepatitis B vaccinations and annual training about blood-borne diseases.