The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited trucking company Central Transport LLC for 16 safety and health violations at its Hillside, Ill., terminal.

Proposed penalties total $145,420. The company is contesting the the findings.

Central Transport, based in Warren, Mich.,, employs about 4,300 workers at 170 locations nationwide. The Hillside terminal has about 100 employees.

OSHA said it opened the March 28 inspection in response to a complaint. The inspection included an evaluation of forklift use, which has been the source of 105 occupational fatalities during 2005 through 2013 in Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio.

OSHA issued one willful violation for failing to remove forklifts from service that needed repair. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health, according to the agency.

Five repeat violations were issued and included failure to have platform guardrails in place on platforms, which exposed workers to falls of more than 4 feet, and failure to keep terminal dock and bay floors clean and dry. OSHA said the company also failed to train workers on chemical hazards before assigning them to work with the substances, did not provide eye-drenching facilities for areas where corrosive chemicals were in use, and failed to maintain the yard and terminal roadway free of potholes and hazards.

A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years, according to the agency.

In September, the company was cited for similar violations at its Rock Island, Ill., terminal, related to defective powered industrial vehicles and lack of fall protection, with proposed penalties of $108,020. The company has contested those violations.

Central Transport was also cited in 2009, 2010 and 2013 at locations in Georgia, Ohio and Mississippi for similar violations.

Two serious violations were issued for failing to have handrails on stairs with four or more risers, not installing slip-resistant treads on stairs and failing to guard the floor opening on a pit to prevent falls. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known, the agency said.

The company has contested the findings and will appear before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.