Posted: Monday, September 26, 2011
MADISON, Wis. – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Kraft Foods Inc. for 12 serious and one other-than-serious safety violation at a facility of its subsidiary, Oscar Mayer, in Madison. Proposed fines total $69,500.
OSHA’s inspection identified deficiencies in the company’s process safety management program, a detailed set of requirements and procedures employers must follow to proactively address hazards associated with processes and equipment that involve large amounts of hazardous chemicals. Nine of the serious violations involve failing to comply with the requirements of the process safety management standard.
“Failing to follow process safety management standards when workers are exposed to hazardous substances puts them at an unacceptable risk for injury and illness,” said Kim Stille, OSHA’s area director in Madison. “Employers have a responsibility to ensure that work environments are healthful and safe.”
The three remaining serious violations involve failing to provide guardrails to protect workers from fall hazards, comply with the “lockout/tagout” standards for the control of hazardous energy and provide proper machine guarding.
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 other-than serious violation was cited for failing to comply with process safety management standards. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
http://www.nbc15.com/news/headlines/OSHA_Cites_Madisons_Kraft_Foods_With_Safety_Violations_130562208.htmlThe citations can be viewed at:
http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Kraft_Foods_313138075_0923_11.pdfThis of course says nothing of the suffering which comes to the animals which are killed preparing food at Oscar Mayer. Its a gruesome business.