PEERLESS BLOCK AND BRICK COMPANY

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, PEERLESS BLOCK AND BRICK COMPANY — a concrete block and brick manufacturing facility located at 100 FLORIDA STREET, CHARLESTON, WV 25302 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 31 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $27,010.00. The inspection case was opened on 2004-10-13.

Federal investigators determined that one or more violations at this facility were committed willfully — meaning the employer either knowingly failed to comply with OSHA standards or acted with plain indifference to employee safety. Willful violations carry the highest penalty multipliers under the OSH Act.

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 $27,010.00 is more than 3.2× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 327331). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.

State Context: Within WV, this facility's penalty places it at the 99th percentile among 14,536 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,060.20.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 31 citations spanning 9 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 9 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 4 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. 2 willful — The employer intentionally and knowingly committed the violation, demonstrating either an intentional disregard for the requirements of the OSH Act or plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning November 29, 2002 with the latest abatement deadline set for November 29, 2004. Of the 31 total citations, 14 (45%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $27,010.00 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 $871.29 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement record for Peerless Block and Brick Company reveals a deeply concerning profile of systemic safety neglect, highlighted by the presence of multiple willful violations related to walking-working surfaces. The issuance of willful citations under 1910.24 and 1910.27 signifies that OSHA investigators determined the employer acted with either intentional disregard for, or plain indifference to, employee safety regarding fixed industrial stairs and ladders. In the concrete products manufacturing industry, these structures are critical for accessing silos, mixers, and kilns; the gravity of these violations suggests that workers were routinely exposed to catastrophic fall hazards that management was aware of but failed to rectify. The $19,000 penalty for a single willful instance was substantially higher than industry averages for the mid-2000s, reflecting the severity of the non-compliance. Furthermore, the convergence of Lockout/Tagout (1910.147) and Permit-Required Confined Space (1910.146) violations points to a failure in managing high-risk energy control and atmospheric hazards. This pattern indicates that the facility lacked a cohesive safety management system, choosing instead to operate with fragmented, substandard protocols. The breadth of the 31 citations suggests that the facility’s hazards were not isolated mechanical