Aerospace Firm Fined for Health, Safety Violations

Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Co., a San Diego-based aerospace manufacturer, was fined $34,540 for repeated health and safety code violations, state officials said.

Officials with the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal-OSHA) said Thursday that the fine--among the largest in the department’s history--was for 232 violations going back to 1982 and included 39 violations considered serious and threatening to the safety of workers.

The fines were assessed in November after a six-month investigation prompted by complaints from an employee, said Don Amos, San Diego district manager for Cal-OSHA. Amos said that, since then, the company has been working to correct conditions at its plant on North Harbor Drive.

“We have been out there several times checking on their progress,” Amos said. “We have been working with them in correcting conditions, but will probably still have to make several more follow-up inspections to make sure that all of the violations have been corrected.”

Amos said the violations ranged from slippery floors and blocked aisles to serious safety violations such as exposed screw conveyors, lack of safety devices for punch presses and inadequate machine guards. Teledyne Ryan had previously been cited for the absence of safety guards and for six of the less serious violations, Amos said.

Ken Carson, vice president of human resources at Teledyne Ryan, said the company would not elaborate on “either the fine or conditions” at the plant.

Teledyne Ryan is under contract with the Army to build the fuselage for its new attack helicopter, the Apache.