NORTHWESTERN STEEL & WIRE COMPANY
121 WALLACE STREET, STERLING, IL 61087
Having inspection records is common for businesses in regulated industries. Data and methodology
Inspection records
May 5, 2000#302605720May 5, 2000Accident (A) · Partial scope, Safety#302605720$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #302605720
Dates
- Opened
- May 5, 2000
- Closing Conference Date
- Aug 3, 2000
- Closed
- Sep 20, 2000
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 accident
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Accident Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an accident inspection in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data. Employers must report work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours. An accident-related inspection does not by itself determine fault.
Incident Investigation Summaries
Incident investigation summaries linked to this inspection through OSHA's accident and injury enforcement data. These summaries describe the reported incident. The enforcement outcome for the linked inspection is in the inspection details above.
Employee burned when hydraulic fluid vapor ignites
Feb 28, 2000#113457808Feb 28, 2000Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Health#113457808$1,0001 viol.1 violation$1,000 in penalties
Inspection #113457808
Dates
- Opened
- Feb 28, 2000
- Closing Conference Date
- Feb 28, 2000
- Closed
- Oct 11, 2000
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 1,800
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 1
- Violation Types
- 1 other-than-serious
- Initial Penalties
- $2,000
- Penalties on Record
- $1,000
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Violations
Violation list (1 of 1 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 1910.305 Electrical - Wiring Methods, Components, and Equipment OSHA citation code: 19100305 G01 II | Other | 20 | 20 | $2,000 | $1,000 | Jul 1, 2000 | - | - |
Sep 20, 1999#113459002Sep 20, 1999FatalityAccident (A) · Partial scope, SafetyFatality#113459002$5,0002 viol.2 violations$5,000 in penalties
Inspection #113459002
Dates
- Opened
- Sep 20, 1999
- Closing Conference Date
- Oct 13, 1999
- Closed
- Feb 29, 2000
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 accident
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 2
- Violation Types
- 1 serious, 1 other-than-serious
- Initial Penalties
- $10,000
- Penalties on Record
- $5,000
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Accident Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an accident inspection in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data. Employers must report work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours. An accident-related inspection does not by itself determine fault.
Incident Investigation Summaries
Incident investigation summaries linked to this inspection through OSHA's accident and injury enforcement data. These summaries describe the reported incident. The enforcement outcome for the linked inspection is in the inspection details above.
Employee killed in fall from crane trolley catwalk
Violations
Violation list (2 of 2 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01002 | 1910.132 Personal Protective Equipment - General Requirements OSHA citation code: 19100132 A | Serious | 2 | 2 | $5,000 | $5,000 | Jan 3, 2000 | - | - |
| 01003 | 1910.132 Personal Protective Equipment - General Requirements OSHA citation code: 19100132 D01 | Other | 1 | 2 | $5,000 | $0 | Apr 3, 2000 | - | - |
Aug 12, 1998#113452809Aug 12, 1998Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Safety#113452809$300,0009 viol.9 violations$300,000 in penalties
Inspection #113452809
Dates
- Opened
- Aug 12, 1998
- Closing Conference Date
- Feb 2, 1999
- Contested
- Feb 25, 1999
- Final Order
- May 8, 2000
- Closed
- Jan 26, 2004
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 9
- Violation Types
- 9 willful
- Initial Penalties
- $630,000
- Penalties on Record
- $300,000
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Violations
Violation list (5 of 9 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 1910.179 Overhead and Gantry Cranes OSHA citation code: 19100179 N01 | Willful | 20 | 25 | $70,000 | $50,000 | Feb 17, 1999 | Feb 25, 1999 | May 8, 2000 |
| 01002 | 1910.179 Overhead and Gantry Cranes OSHA citation code: 19100179 N01 | Willful | 20 | 25 | $70,000 | $50,000 | Feb 17, 1999 | Feb 25, 1999 | May 8, 2000 |
| 01003 | 1910.179 Overhead and Gantry Cranes OSHA citation code: 19100179 N01 | Willful | 20 | 25 | $70,000 | $50,000 | Feb 17, 1999 | Feb 25, 1999 | May 8, 2000 |
| 01004 | 1910.179 Overhead and Gantry Cranes OSHA citation code: 19100179 N01 | Willful | 20 | 25 | $70,000 | $50,000 | Feb 17, 1999 | Feb 25, 1999 | May 8, 2000 |
| 01005 | 1910.179 Overhead and Gantry Cranes OSHA citation code: 19100179 N01 | Willful | 20 | 25 | $70,000 | $20,000 | Feb 17, 1999 | Feb 25, 1999 | May 8, 2000 |
Showing the 5 violations listed first by citation identifier. This inspection has 9 total violations documented in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement database. The complete violation list is available at enforcedata.dol.gov.
Jul 8, 1998#113463236Jul 8, 1998Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Health#113463236$4,2006 viol.6 violations$4,200 in penalties
Inspection #113463236
Dates
- Opened
- Jul 8, 1998
- Closing Conference Date
- Aug 12, 1998
- Closed
- Jan 12, 1999
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 6
- Violation Types
- 4 serious, 2 other-than-serious
- Initial Penalties
- $8,000
- Penalties on Record
- $4,200
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Chemical Exposure Sampling14 substances sampled
Air monitoring samples collected by OSHA during this inspection. Results grouped by substance.
| Substance | Samples | Result Range | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antimony and Compounds (as Sb) | 11 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds (as Be) | 11 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Cadmium | 11 | 0 - 0.0013 | mg/m³ |
| Chromium, Metal and Insoluble Salts | 11 | 0 - 0.0143 | mg/m³ |
| Cobalt, Metal, Dust and Fume (as Co) | 11 | 0 - 0.000707 | mg/m³ |
| Copper Fume (as Cu) | 11 | 0.000849 - 0.0094 | mg/m³ |
| Gravimetric DeterminationQC | 1 | 0.5888 | mg/m³ |
| Iron Oxide Fume | 11 | 0.0361 - 1.8844 | mg/m³ |
| Lead, Inorganic (as Pb) | 11 | 0 - 0.0375 | mg/m³ |
| Manganese Fume (as Mn) | 11 | 0.0065 - 0.6122 | mg/m³ |
| Molybdenum (as Mo), Insoluble Compounds (Total Dust) | 11 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Nickel, Metal and Insoluble compounds (as Ni) | 11 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Sample WeightQC | 1 | 0.403 | mg |
| Silica, Crystalline Quartz (Respirable Fraction) | 1 | 5.3 | % |
| Vanadium fume (as V2O5) | 11 | 0 - 0.0037 | mg/m³ |
| Zinc Oxide Fume | 11 | 0.0181 - 0.4949 | mg/m³ |
Violations
Violation list (5 of 6 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 1910.1025 Lead OSHA citation code: 19101025 D08 I | Other | 22 | 200 | $1,500 | $500 | Nov 2, 1998 | - | - |
| 01002 | 1910.1025 Lead OSHA citation code: 19101025 E01 | Serious | 1 | 20 | $2,000 | $1,200 | Nov 23, 1998 | - | - |
| 01003 | 1910.1025 Lead OSHA citation code: 19101025 J01 I | Serious | 1 | 20 | $2,500 | $1,300 | Dec 18, 1998 | - | - |
| 01004A | 1910.1025 Lead OSHA citation code: 19101025 L01 II | Serious | 1 | 85 | $2,000 | $1,200 | Jan 20, 1999 | - | - |
| 01004B | 1910.1025 Lead OSHA citation code: 19101025 L01 I | Serious | 1 | 380 | $0 | $0 | Jan 20, 1999 | - | - |
Showing the 5 violations listed first by citation identifier. This inspection has 6 total violations documented in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement database. The complete violation list is available at enforcedata.dol.gov.
Feb 5, 1998#113452130Feb 5, 1998Unprogrammed Related (G) · Partial scope, Safety#113452130$01 viol.1 violation$0 in penalties
Inspection #113452130
Dates
- Opened
- Feb 5, 1998
- Closing Conference Date
- Apr 28, 1998
- Closed
- Jul 7, 1998
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- Yes
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 1
- Violation Types
- 1 other-than-serious
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Unprogrammed Related Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an unprogrammed related inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. The public DOL category label is preserved here without adding extra interpretation beyond the government label.
Violations
Violation list (1 of 1 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 1910.147 Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) OSHA citation code: 19100147 F02 I | Other | 1 | 1 | $0 | $0 | May 14, 1998 | - | - |
Jul 23, 1996#122314701Jul 23, 1996Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Safety#122314701$00 viol.0 violations$0 in penalties
Inspection #122314701
Dates
- Opened
- Jul 23, 1996
- Closing Conference Date
- Jul 23, 1996
- Closed
- Jul 29, 1996
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 0
- Initial Penalties
- $0
- Penalties on Record
- $0
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
May 1, 1996#122313919May 1, 1996Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Safety#122313919$100,0003 viol.3 violations$100,000 in penalties
Inspection #122313919
Dates
- Opened
- May 1, 1996
- Closing Conference Date
- Aug 15, 1996
- Closed
- Jan 2, 1997
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 3
- Violation Types
- 2 serious, 1 unclassified
- Initial Penalties
- $147,000
- Penalties on Record
- $100,000
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Violations
Violation list (3 of 3 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Serious | 1 | 10 | $7,000 | $5,000 | Nov 12, 1996 | - | - |
| 02001 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Serious | 1 | 4 | $70,000 | $25,000 | Nov 3, 1996 | - | - |
| 02002 | 1910.23 Ladders OSHA citation code: 19100023 C01 | Unclassified | 1 | 2 | $70,000 | $70,000 | Nov 3, 1996 | - | - |
Jul 20, 1995#122309826Jul 20, 1995Complaint (B) · Partial scope, Health#122309826$7884 viol.4 violations$788 in penalties
Inspection #122309826
Dates
- Opened
- Jul 20, 1995
- Closing Conference Date
- Jul 20, 1995
- Closed
- Oct 3, 1995
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 complaint
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 4
- Violation Types
- 2 serious, 2 other-than-serious
- Initial Penalties
- $1,125
- Penalties on Record
- $788
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Complaint Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as a complaint inspection in the DOL OSHA enforcement data. OSHA can open complaint-driven inspections after receiving safety or health complaints from workers or their representatives.
Chemical Exposure Sampling13 substances sampled
Air monitoring samples collected by OSHA during this inspection. Results grouped by substance.
| Substance | Samples | Result Range | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antimony and Compounds (as Sb) | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Beryllium and Beryllium Compounds (as Be) | 6 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Chromium, Metal and Insoluble Salts | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Cobalt, Metal, Dust and Fume (as Co) | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Copper Fume (as Cu) | 7 | 0 - 0.0026 | mg/m³ |
| Hydrogen Chloride | 10 | 0 - 0.25 | ppm |
| Iron Oxide Fume | 7 | 0 - 0.1115 | mg/m³ |
| Lead, Inorganic (as Pb) | 7 | 0 - 0.0129 | mg/m³ |
| Manganese Fume (as Mn) | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Molybdenum (as Mo), Insoluble Compounds (Total Dust) | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Nickel, Metal and Insoluble compounds (as Ni) | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Vanadium fume (as V2O5) | 7 | 0 | mg/m³ |
| Zinc Oxide Fume | 7 | 0 - 0.1576 | mg/m³ |
Violations
Violation list (4 of 4 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001A | 1910.212 General Requirements for All Machines (Machine Guarding) OSHA citation code: 19100212 A01 | Serious | 3 | 42 | $1,125 | $788 | Sep 4, 1995 | - | - |
| 01001B | 1910.212 General Requirements for All Machines (Machine Guarding) OSHA citation code: 19100212 A05 | Serious | 2 | 42 | $0 | $0 | Aug 7, 1995 | - | - |
| 02001 | 1910.1200 Hazard Communication OSHA citation code: 19101200 F05 I | Other | 4 | 46 | $0 | $0 | Aug 7, 1995 | - | - |
| 02002 | 1910.1200 Hazard Communication OSHA citation code: 19101200 F05 II | Other | 4 | 46 | $0 | $0 | Aug 7, 1995 | - | - |
Feb 23, 1995#122104060Feb 23, 1995FatalityAccident (A) · Partial scope, SafetyFatality#122104060$7,5002 viol.2 violations$7,500 in penalties
Inspection #122104060
Dates
- Opened
- Feb 23, 1995
- Closing Conference Date
- Feb 24, 1995
- Closed
- Apr 13, 1995
Inspection
- Advance Notice
- No
- Owner Type
- Private
- Union Status
- Yes
- Number of Employees
- 2,000
- Related Activity
- 1 accident
Violations and Penalties
- Total Violations
- 2
- Violation Types
- 2 serious
- Initial Penalties
- $7,500
- Penalties on Record
- $7,500
- Site Address
- 121 Wallace Street, Sterling, IL 61081
- Industry
- Not classified in OSHA's inspection record.
Accident Inspection: This inspection record is categorized as an accident inspection in the U.S. Department of Labor OSHA enforcement data. Employers must report work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and work-related inpatient hospitalizations, amputations, or losses of an eye within 24 hours. An accident-related inspection does not by itself determine fault.
Incident Investigation Summaries
Incident investigation summaries linked to this inspection through OSHA's accident and injury enforcement data. These summaries describe the reported incident. The enforcement outcome for the linked inspection is in the inspection details above.
Employee dies in 10 foot fall while moving ladder
Violations
Violation list (2 of 2 shown)
| Citation | Standard | Type | Instances | Exposed | Initial | Current | Abatement | Contest | Final Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01001 | 5A0001 General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) | Serious | 1 | 3 | $5,000 | $5,000 | Apr 17, 1995 | - | - |
| 01002 | 1910.22 Walking-Working Surfaces - General Requirements OSHA citation code: 19100022 C | Serious | 1 | 3 | $2,500 | $2,500 | Apr 17, 1995 | - | - |
Penalty amounts may differ from final amounts after settlement or judicial review. How to read these records
About these records
A company page groups inspections with the same normalized employer name, city and state; it is not a legal-entity identifier (how pages are grouped).
This page displays public OSHA enforcement data. Status text follows the DOL inspection record first and may include citation-level context when the inspection feed and citation records are out of sync. Penalty amounts shown reflect the latest penalty amounts on record in the DOL database and may differ from initial assessments or final amounts. This is not an official OSHA resource.
OSHA's public enforcement data does not publish a "guilty" or "not guilty" field for inspections. The closest outcome fields available are the citation counts, penalty amounts, contest dates, final-order dates, and the inspection close date shown on this page. How to interpret these status fields. How initial and current penalties are recorded.
OSHA may publish multiple citation rows in the same inspection with the same standard and penalty fields. Separate rows can still differ in OSHA metadata such as citation identifier, recorded instance count, exposed workers, or gravity value. Contest and Final Order columns show citation-level dates from OSHA's enforcement record. A dash means OSHA's record does not currently show that activity for the citation.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor OSHA incident investigation data (`osha_accident` + `osha_accident_injury`). Linked via `rel_insp_nr` to the inspection activity number (exact government key). Injury, body part, source and event values are OSHA's own codes. OSHA states that these fields are not coded according to the requirements under the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS). Only the values present in the OSHA record are listed; an incident with no value that resolves in OSHA's code table shows "Injury details not recorded". Where a record covers several people, each field lists every value recorded across them.
Source: OSHA chemical exposure sampling data (OSHA Information System). P = Personal (worker breathing zone), A = Area (general air). Rows marked QC are analytical quality control measurements, not chemical exposures. OSHA PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) values from the OSHA Occupational Chemical Database, matched via IMIS substance code (analyte code) (exact government key).
Understanding These Penalties
The maximum penalty for a serious violation in 2025 is $16,550 per violation. For willful violations, the range is $11,823 to $165,514. The current penalty column shows the latest amount on record in OSHA's database for each citation. When the current penalty differs from the initial penalty, OSHA's records show that the amount changed during the enforcement process, but this page does not determine the specific reason for each change. Penalty amounts are set by OSHA and adjusted annually for inflation.
38 inspections, 1973 to 2000. Each row is one inspection; point at or tap a row for its dates and totals.
Source: DOL OSHA enforcement data (inspections and violations), linked via activity_nr (exact government key).
Penalty changes: Amounts shown reflect what OSHA's enforcement record publishes. The reason for any change is not stated unless OSHA's record explicitly says so.
Short cases: When a case closed soon after it opened, the closed marker is drawn slightly to the right so both markers stay visible. Each row's card shows the exact dates.
Standards cited
Chemical exposure sampling
Sample results are listed in the record of each inspection that collected them.