Oxford, MA Concrete Products Manufacturer Receives 35 serious, repeat and other citations.

OSHA has cited Flagg-Palmer Precast Inc. for 35 alleged repeat, serious and other than serious violations of workplace health and safety standards at its manufacturing plant. The concrete products manufacturer faces a total of $76,900 in proposed fines following an OSHA inspection prompted by employee complaints.OSHA’s inspection found instances of bridge cranes with defective components; production and common areas littered with oil tanks, concrete rubble, combustible trash, rubbish and other debris; blocked or obstructed emergency exits; lack of eye, head and foot protection; no eyewash station; a defective forktruck and no forklift training; defective slings; unguarded table saw and grinder; ungrounded or unprotected electrical equipment or wiring; unlabeled containers of hazardous chemicals; and no hazard communication training.

“These citations address a variety of hazards that should not exist in this type of workplace,” said Mary Hoye, OSHA’s area director in Springfield. “The fact that some of these conditions mirror those cited by OSHA in 2006 emphasizes the need for this employer to pursue prompt, continuous and effective corrective action. “These conditions resulted in the issuance of 25 serious citations, with $43,500 in fines. The company also was issued nine repeat citations, with $32,400 in fines, for hazards similar to those cited in a 2006 OSHA inspection. These citations addressed unguarded open-sided floors; no written confined space hazard program; unmarked confined spaces; no formal written program, hardware and training to instruct employees in shutting down machines’ power sources to prevent their unintended startup during maintenance; an ungrounded extension cord; exposed live electrical parts; and no written hazard communication program. Finally, one other than serious citation, with a $1,000 fine, was issued for incomplete or incorrect logging of occupational injuries.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pm and is filed under OSHA Inspections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.