ACME GALVANIZING, INC.
According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, ACME GALVANIZING, INC. — a industry sector 00 facility located at 2730 SOUTH 19TH STREET, MILWAUKEE, WI 53215 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 87 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $83,945.00. The inspection case was opened on 1994-01-28.
Cumulative penalties significantly exceed the national median for OSHA enforcement actions. The penalty amount suggests multiple high-gravity citations, indicating conditions that presented a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm to employees.
Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $83,945.00 is more than 70.2× the national average of $1,195.75 for facilities in the Other sector (NAICS 000000). This sector encompasses 1,316,687 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $1,574.4M.
State Context: Within WI, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 43,331 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,505.68.
Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 87 citations spanning 6 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 12 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 3 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm.
Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning May 30, 1996 with the latest abatement deadline set for July 19, 1996. Of the 87 total citations, 7 (8%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.
Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $83,945.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $964.89 falls within the standard penalty range.
The 1994 inspection of Acme Galvanizing, Inc. revealed a pervasive breakdown in fundamental safety programming, characterized by a staggering 87 citations and an aggregate penalty exceeding $83,000—a figure significantly higher than the industry average for the mid-1990s. The enforcement record highlights critical systemic failures in three high-risk areas: occupational noise exposure, confined space entry, and material handling. The repeated violations of 1910.95 and 1910.146 indicate that management failed to implement essential health monitoring and life-safety protocols. Specifically, the lapses in audiometric testing and confined space hazard assessments (1910.146 C02 and D08) placed workers at immediate risk of irreversible hearing loss and catastrophic asphyxiation or entrapment during maintenance operations. Furthermore, the concentration of violations under 1910.184 regarding sling safety suggests a chronic neglect of mechanical integrity and rigging inspections, which are paramount in a galvanizing environment where heavy loads are frequently suspended over chemical baths. While many individual penalties were assessed at lower gravity levels, the sheer volume of "Serious" (S) classifications points to a culture of non-compliance rather than isolated technical errors. The absence of effective oversight in these high-hazard domains suggests that the facility operated without a functional safety management system, necessitating the substantial financial deterrent imposed by OSHA to compel structural changes in their risk mitigation strategies.