GRANITE & MARBLE BY VENTURA, INC.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, GRANITE & MARBLE BY VENTURA, INC. — a cut stone and stone product manufacturing facility located at 3615 WHEELER AVE., FORT SMITH, AR 72901 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 50 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $19,890.00. The inspection case was opened on 2007-01-31.

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.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $19,890.00 is more than 2.4× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 327991). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.

State Context: Within AR, this facility's penalty places it at the 98th percentile among 15,726 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $2,714.64.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 50 citations spanning 5 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 10 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 5 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 March 27, 2006 with the latest abatement deadline set for May 5, 2006. Of the 50 total citations, 5 (10%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $19,890.00 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 $397.80 falls within the standard penalty range.

The inspection of Granite & Marble by Ventura, Inc. revealed a pervasive breakdown in safety management, evidenced by an extraordinary volume of 50 citations. The concentration of violations within Subpart O (Machinery and Machine Guarding) and Subpart S (Electrical) indicates a facility where mechanical hazards were left largely unmitigated. Specifically, the recurring failures under 1910.213 and 1910.219 concerning woodworking machinery and power-transmission apparatus exposed workers to high-gravity risks of amputations, lacerations, and entanglement. These were not isolated mechanical lapses but rather a systemic failure to implement basic physical safeguarding. Furthermore,