The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited a fresh-cut vegetable processing company for willfully and repeatedly violating safety requirements after a worker was fatally injured while cleaning and sanitizing a machine, the agency announced Nov. 24.
The agency initiated an inspection into Taylor Farms New Jersey Inc. after being notified of a fatality at its processing facility in Swedesboro, N.J. OSHA inspectors determined that Taylor Farms, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods Inc., failed to implement proper lockout/tagout procedures to protect workers from severe injuries during sanitation activities.
The agency cited Taylor Farms for 16 safety violations related to the lack of lockout/tagout procedures, as well as failures to implement lockout/tagout requirements or provide training. OSHA proposed penalties totaling $1,125,484. PL Solutions Group LLC, operating as People Logistics, the on-site temporary employment agency, was cited for three serious violations, with proposed penalties totaling $33,100, for failing to implement or train workers on lockout/tagout procedures.
Staffing agencies and host employers share responsibility for training temporary employees.
OSHA’s lockout/tagout standard (“control of hazardous energy”) is the agency’s fifth most cited standard. The lockout/tagout standard addresses the hazards (amputation, burns, and electrocution, as well as crushed, cut, fractured, or lacerated body parts) posed by equipment and machinery during cleaning, maintenance, repair, or service.
During the recent lapse in federal appropriations, the Labor Department furloughed 1,204 OSHA employees.