DURANGO - GEORGIA PAPER COMPANY
According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, DURANGO - GEORGIA PAPER COMPANY — a industry sector 00 facility located at 1000 OSBORNE STREET, ST.MARYS, GA 31558 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 242 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $445,700.00. The inspection case was opened on 1996-09-30.
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 $445,700.00 is more than 372.7× 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 GA, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 48,956 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,799.18.
Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 242 citations spanning 8 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 8 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 7 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 November 4, 1993 with the latest abatement deadline set for February 23, 1995. Of the 242 total citations, 15 (6%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.
Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $445,700.00 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 $1,841.74 falls within the standard penalty range.
The enforcement action against Durango-Georgia Paper Company represents a massive regulatory intervention, characterized by an extraordinary volume of 242 citations and nearly half a million dollars in penalties—figures that vastly exceeded industry averages for the mid-1990s. The inspection revealed a pervasive breakdown in fundamental safety systems, particularly regarding high-hazard operational controls. The concentration of violations within 1910.146 (Permit-Required Confined Spaces) and 1910.147 (Lockout/Tagout) standards indicates that workers were routinely exposed to life-threatening risks, including engulfment, asphyxiation, and unexpected machine energization. These specific standards are the bedrock of pulp and paper mill safety; their systemic neglect suggests a management culture that prioritized production throughput over the integrity of life-safety protocols. The presence of multiple gravity-based serious violations, particularly those involving flammable liquids (1910.106) and specialized paper mill equipment (1910.261), underscores a facility-wide failure to mitigate catastrophic fire and mechanical hazards. Rather than isolated mechanical defects, the sheer breadth of the citations points toward a programmatic collapse in safety leadership and training. For compliance professionals, this case serves as a landmark example of how neglected administrative controls—such as failing to provide adequate eye wash stations (1910.151) or improper storage of materials (1910.176)—often signal deeper, more lethal deficiencies in a facility’s hazardous energy control and confined space entry programs. The resulting penalty structure reflects OSHA’s intent to penalize not just individual hazards, but a comprehensive institutional disregard for federal safety mandates.