VALLEY FASTENER GROUP, LLC

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, VALLEY FASTENER GROUP, LLC — a bolt, nut, screw, rivet, and washer manufacturing facility located at 5S250 FRONTENAC ROAD, NAPERVILLE, IL 60563 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 3 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $19,086.00. The inspection case was opened on 2022-10-21.

DOL records document workplace safety violations warranting formal citation under the OSH Act. While classified at the standard enforcement level, all OSHA citations require corrective action and may indicate areas where workplace safety programs should be strengthened.

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 $19,086.00 is more than 3.0× the national average of $6,436.62 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 332722). This sector encompasses 82,943 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $533.9M.

State Context: Within IL, this facility's penalty places it at the 97th percentile among 88,899 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,496.90.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 3 citations spanning 2 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 3 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 March 6, 2023 with the latest abatement deadline set for July 3, 2023. Of the 3 total citations, 0 (0%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $19,086.00 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 $6,362.00 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement profile for Valley Fastener Group, LLC, reveals a concentrated failure in energy control protocols and mechanical safeguarding, indicative of systemic operational risks within its fastener manufacturing processes. The citations under 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(7) and 1910.147(d) underscore a critical breakdown in the facility’s Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) program, specifically regarding the training of authorized personnel and the physical application of energy isolation procedures. For workers, these deficiencies translated into a high-probability risk of crushing injuries or amputations during machine maintenance and setup, as the equipment lacked the necessary verification that hazardous energy was neutralized. The concurrent violation of 1910.212(a)(1) for inadequate machine guarding further suggests that the facility relied on administrative controls rather than robust engineering safeguards to protect operators from points of operation and rotating parts. While the total penalty of $19,086.00 falls within the standard range for serious violations in the fabricated metal product sector, the maximum gravity ratings assigned to the LOTO citations signal that OSHA inspectors identified an immediate threat to life and limb. The pattern of these violations demonstrates that the safety failures were not isolated mechanical lapses but rather a fundamental lack of oversight in the facility’s safety management system, failing to integrate physical guarding with the rigorous procedural discipline