Over the past year, fast lube facilities received 146 OSHA-related enforcement inspections across Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Those inspections resulted in hundreds of violations assessed at approximately $742,000.
For anyone who doesn’t normally keep track, that’s high across the board—the number of facilities, states, and violations, as well as the size of the fines. In fact, inspections and fines have more than doubled since 2023. Several particular states have experienced intense enforcement. Washington regulators undertook 27% of all inspections and imposed fines up to $69,300 per facility. They appear to be homing in on repeat offenders and serious offenses generally. Although only six inspections occurred in Texas, one of them involved a $192,000 fine, another $36,649, and a third, $26,774. California and Oregon tied with 13 inspections each. Michigan, Utah, and Colorado also engaged in a chunk of inspections with overlapping issues.
It's important to keep in mind that once inspectors notice a trend in types of violations, inspections tend to increase and focus on trending issues. The following OSHA (and state counterpart) compliance requirements were prevalent among the recent citations:
- HazCom written plans, labeling, and SDS availability;
- Proper use and guarding of electrical equipment, cords, and cables;
- Walking-working surfaces fall protection;
- Eye and face protection;
- All emergency wash station requirements;
- Facility cleanliness;
- Heat safety;
- Adequate first aid;
- Reporting fatalities, hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye as a result of work-related incidents to OSHA.
Among the largest fast lube companies, two represent 55% of all inspected facilities, and one of them received 30% of the citations issued. That means operators flying under those banners will likely be subjected to additional enforcement scrutiny even if they have an excellent compliance history. With regard to independents, unfortunately, the increase in enforcement interest will extend across the industry. However, the enforcement statistics also indicate that more leniencies have been provided for smaller companies when mistakes are immediately cured, do not involve repeat offenses, and did not arguably contribute to a serious injury.
OSHA regulation is not a “paper tiger,” and its enforcement is not slowing down nationwide. As always, the best way to stay in compliance is routine training with an expectation of needing to stay on top of evolving requirements, such as managing heat and wildfires.
Whether you’re new to the industry or an expert ready for an update, the Preventative Automotive Maintenance Association has a long history of providing OSHA training for the fast lube industry. I encourage readers to seek them out. There’s no such thing as too much training when it comes to safety.
