The Department of Labor announced that Blacktip Boatworks LLC, a boat manufacturer in Pinellas Park, Florida, ignored 15 existing safety and health hazards that federal inspectors identified in July 2023.
Prompted by the failure of the company to submit required proof of abatement to OSHA, inspectors returned to the worksite in March 2024 and discovered the company had not corrected hazardous conditions, including failing to institute a workplace respiratory protection program and procedures for workers required to wear tight fitting respirators, and failing to develop and maintain a written hazard communication program and safety data sheets for workers handling hazardous chemicals.
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The agency also identified repeat and serious safety and health violations, such as failing to provide training to workers voluntarily using respirators, failing to conduct periodic inspections on equipment used to lift boats and remove damaged equipment from service, failing to electrically interconnect containers used to transfer flammable liquids and failing to provide medical evaluations and fit testing to workers required to wear tight-fitting respirators.
“Our follow-up inspection found Blacktip Boatworks continuing to expose its employees to potentially disabling and deadly injuries,” explained OSHA Area Director Danelle Jindra in Tampa, Florida. “The citations we issue are not recommendations. They are violations of federal law that must be addressed immediately.”
OSHA cited Blacktip Boatworks with four failure-to-abate, two serious and three repeat violations, as well as one other-than-serious violation because of the inspection. The company now faces a total of $328,287 in penalties.
Blacktip Boatworks designs and builds semi-custom flat, bay and offshore boats.
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