WHITE CEDAR SHINGLES, INC.
According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, WHITE CEDAR SHINGLES, INC. — a manufacturing facility located at 2700 WINTER STREET, SUPERIOR, WI 54880 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 13 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $156,240.00. The inspection case was opened on 2016-07-07.
This facility represents one of the most severe enforcement actions in the OSHA SVEP database. Willful violations combined with penalties exceeding $100,000 indicate a pattern of deliberate non-compliance that poses an imminent danger to workers.
Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $156,240.00 is more than 18.6× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 321113). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.
State Context: Within WI, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 43,331 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,505.68.
Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 13 citations spanning 7 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. 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. 2 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 November 6, 2013 with the latest abatement deadline set for December 6, 2013. Of the 13 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 $156,240.00 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 $12,018.46 falls within the standard penalty range.
The enforcement action against White Cedar Shingles, Inc. reveals a catastrophic breakdown in safety management systems, characterized by a blatant disregard for life-critical energy control protocols. The assessment of two Willful violations under 1910.147, each carrying a maximum-tier penalty of $70,000, signifies that management acted with either intentional disregard for or plain indifference to worker safety. In practical terms, the failure to provide adequate lockout/tagout (LOTO) training and the omission of energy isolation procedures during maintenance exposed employees to high-probability risks of crushing injuries, amputations, or fatalities from the unexpected startup of sawmill machinery. The penalty total of $156,240 is exceptionally high for a NAICS 321113 (Sawmill) facility of this size, reflecting the severity of the identified hazards. Beyond the Willful citations, the pattern of Serious violations involving unguarded pulleys (1910.219) and hazardous electrical conditions (1910.303, 1910.305) points to a systemic lack of preventative maintenance and a failure to conduct routine hazard assessments. The intersection of mechanical guarding failures and the absence of LOTO procedures suggests a workplace culture where production speed likely superseded fundamental safety engineering. This was not an isolated incident but a pervasive failure to implement the most basic industrial safety controls required in high-hazard wood processing environments.