AK Steel Corporation faces USD 212,000 in proposed fines for record keeping violations related to potential hearing hazards at its Butler Works, along with other violations.

The Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that the proposed fines resulted from an inspection the agency conducted on December 3rd 2010.

The agency accused AK Steel, based in West Chester, Ohio, of under reported injuries from 2007 through 2010. Inspectors cited AK Steel with four willful violations carrying USD 200,000 penalty, plus six less than serious violations for a total penalty of USD 6,000. Willful violations are those that the government determines are committed with indifference to or intentional disregard for workers' health and safety.

The government claimed that AK Steel did not record standard threshold shifts when workers' hearing tests revealed they experienced a work related hearing loss. The other than serious violations were due to the company's failure to properly record other work related illnesses and injuries in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Mr Robert Syzmanski director of the agency's Pittsburgh office said that keeping accurate records is an important tool that employers and workers can use to identify hazards in the workplace and they also enable OSHA to better target its resources.

(Sourced from www.pittsburghlive.com)