Spokane Valley sawmill fined $126,000 for workplace safety, health violations

Nov. 12—A Spokane Valley sawmill "knee deep in safety and health violations" was fined more than $126,000 last week by the state's workplace safety agency.

The fines are for more than five dozen violations found at Fox Lumber Sales last month when inspectors with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries reviewed the company's property off Euclid Avenue, according to a release from the department.

The citations allege the lumber company has allowed sawdust to accumulate well past the 1/8 -inch limit, operated space heaters on top of and near piles of combustible sawdust and failed to protect workers from dangerous machinery. The state department also found violations related to "exposure to falls, flying objects and lack of worker training," according to the report.

"Almost everywhere our inspectors turned, they found hazards that could injure or kill a worker," said Craig Blackwood, assistant director for the department's Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The sawdust blanketing the inside of Fox Lumber, which processes leftover wood for use in wooden pallets, stakes and fence rails, was so thick that it "looked like it had snowed in the building," the report reads. In some places, sawdust piles were at least 5 inches tall.

Fox Lumber was cited for many of the same issues at its Montesano location twice in 2019 and again in 2021, according to labor department records. The total cost of those citations were $2,400, $14,300 and $15,300, respectively, according to labor department records.

The repeat nature of the offenses led to the hefty recently issued fines, the release states. Fox Lumber opened its Valley location in January.

"It's frustrating to find a company repeating the same mistakes over and over, but that won't stop us from holding them accountable and demanding the hazards are fixed," Blackwood said in the release.

A representative for Fox couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.

Fox Lumber has appealed the department findings, according to the release.