RALSTON PURINA COMPANY

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, RALSTON PURINA COMPANY — a industry sector 00 facility located at 2200 MANUFACTURING DRIVE, CLINTON, IA 52732 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 22 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $18,500.00. The inspection case was opened on 1989-06-13.

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.

State Context: Within IA, this facility's penalty places it at the 97th percentile among 19,658 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $2,797.42.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 22 citations spanning 6 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 10 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. 5 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 September 9, 1993 with the latest abatement deadline set for July 1, 1994. Of the 22 total citations, 15 (68%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, suggesting partial progress toward required corrective actions.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $18,500.00 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 $840.91 falls within the standard penalty range.

The 1989 inspection of the Ralston Purina facility in Clinton, Iowa, revealed a pervasive breakdown in fundamental safety engineering and electrical infrastructure management. The citation profile, characterized by twenty-two distinct violations, underscores a systemic failure rather than isolated negligence. Central to these findings were significant "Serious" infractions involving the misuse of flexible cords and cables (1910.305) and critical failures in lockout/tagout-related electrical safety practices (1910.333). For the workforce, these deficiencies translated into immediate risks of electrocution, flash fires, and unexpected machine energization during maintenance—hazards that are particularly lethal in high-volume manufacturing environments. The penalty total of $18,500 was substantial for the late 1980s regulatory environment, signaling that OSHA inspectors identified high-gravity risks across multiple operational domains. The recurring citations under standard 880004 further suggest persistent gaps in specific state-level or specialized safety protocols that the facility failed to harmonize with federal expectations. While no "Willful" designations were issued, the sheer volume of "Serious" and "Other-than-Serious" violations indicates a reactive safety culture where hazard identification was secondary to production. The concentration of electrical and housekeeping violations suggests that management lacked a comprehensive preventive maintenance program, leaving employees vulnerable to preventable industrial accidents rooted in poor facility oversight and deficient equipment safeguarding.