OSHA seeks $192,000 in fines at Attleboro plant

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pbn.com/stories/29433.html

By PBN Staff

ATTLEBORO – The Mantrose-Haeuser Co. Inc. faces proposed fines of $192,000 for 29 violations of health and safety standards at its Attleboro plant, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The agency’s inspection of the factory, at 113 Olive St., followed a July 17 incident in which an employee lost his hand when it became caught in the unguarded rotating valve of a dust-collection machine, according to OSHA’s Braintree-area office. The plant had been cited with a similar hazard in April 2005, so the lack of guarding spurred a proposed fine of $35,000, OSHA said.

Repeat citations also were issued for two other violations – unguarded work platforms and an emergency exit door that could not be opened – carrying a total of $25,000 in proposed fines, OSHA said.

The inspection also found that the plant had failed to develop and implement procedures for shutting down machines and locking their power sources to prevent unintended startups, the agency said. That finding spurred one willful citation, carrying a proposed fine of $70,000, OSHA said.

Another 25 citations were issued for “serious” violations – blocked, obstructed or unmarked emergency exit doors and routes; lack of lockout/tagout devices and training; trip and fall hazards; fire extinguishers not readily available; inadequate respirator fitting and training; confined-space hazards; a defective pallet jack; unlabeled containers of chemicals; unapproved containers for flammable liquid; and a lack of written procedures, training and other elements of a process safety-management plan – carrying proposed fines totaling $62,000, the agency said.

(OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with indifference to, or intentional disregard of, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and related regulations; a serious violation is one involving a hazard the employer knew about or should have known about, from which death or serious physical harm is likely to result.)

FULL story at link.