Initial citations in state OSHA cases

Here is a sampling of fines imposed when the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Division cited employers in incidents in which a worker died. After the initial citations, companies can contest the findings and negotiate lower fines.

•$110,440: One worker died during the 1990 construction of the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue bridge. General contractor C.S. McCrossan Inc. of Maple Grove was fined for safety violations.

•$75,000: Regions Hospital in St. Paul was fined in 2005 for a 2004 accident in which a lab technician trapped in a walk-in washer was fatally scalded.

•$57,000 and $28,500: In 1999, steel erector subcontractor L.H. Sowles Co. was fined $57,000 and Ryan Construction was fined $28,500 after two electricians were killed during the 1998 construction of the Piper Jaffray Center.

•$53,000: A Rosemount warehouse explosion in 2000 killed one worker and injured several others. The warehouse owner, Endress Proccessing, was fined.

•$48,000: A 1998 gas explosion in downtown St. Cloud killed four and injured 15. Cable Constructors Inc. was fined in 1999 for failure to avoid damage to underground gas lines.

Source: Star Tribune archive