EMHART TEKNOLOGIES

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, EMHART TEKNOLOGIES — a spring and wire product manufacturing facility located at 4 SHELTER ROCK LANE, DANBURY, CT 06810 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 29 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $45,000.00. The inspection case was opened on 2009-05-21.

The volume of citations issued during this inspection suggests systematic compliance deficiencies rather than isolated incidents. Facilities with 10 or more citations typically face comprehensive abatement requirements and may be subject to follow-up inspections.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 3.3 per 100 full-time workers — 22% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 2.3 per 100,000 workers.

EPA Environmental Record: EPA penalties total $29,658.00 (Clean Water Act: $29,658.00). Source: EPA ECHO database.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $45,000.00 is more than 7.0× the national average of $6,436.62 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 332611). This sector encompasses 82,943 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $533.9M.

State Context: Within CT, this facility's penalty places it at the 99th percentile among 33,669 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,368.63.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 29 citations spanning 7 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 1 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. 14 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning February 8, 2007 with the latest abatement deadline set for October 11, 2009. Of the 29 total citations, 5 (17%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $45,000.00 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 $1,551.72 falls within the standard penalty range.

The inspection of Emhart Technologies’ Danbury facility revealed a pervasive breakdown in fundamental machine safety protocols, characterized by a high volume of serious violations concentrated in the mechanical power press and machine guarding standards. The citation density—specifically regarding 1910.212, 1910.217, and 1910.219—indicates a systemic failure to protect operators from nip points, rotating parts, and flying debris, which are primary drivers of amputations and crush injuries in the spring manufacturing industry. The gravity ratings assigned to the machine guarding and power press citations (reaching the maximum level of 10) signify that OSHA identified a high probability of severe physical harm. Furthermore, the concurrent failures in Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures under 1910.147 suggest that the facility’s hazardous energy control program was largely non-functional, leaving maintenance and setup personnel exposed during intervention tasks. While the individual penalties were scaled to the 2009 statutory limits, the aggregate $45,000 assessment was substantial for the era, reflecting the breadth of the non-compliance. This enforcement record portrays a facility where physical engineering controls were either absent or bypassed, and where administrative safety programs failed to provide a secondary layer of protection, indicating a reactive rather than proactive safety culture.