Several Violations of OSHA Standards Get Recycler in Hot Water : $318k Fine and OSHA Citation for Recycling Firm Following Amputation in Georgia
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations to Columbia Recycling Corp. – a Georgia based plastics recycling firm - for five repeated, three serious and one other-than-serious safety and health violations.
Based in Dalton, Columbia Recycling employs approximately 460 workers and extrudes textile and plastic waste to make melt-filtered reprocessed pellets to be used in the automotive industry for injection moulding.
Acting on a complaint, the agency said that it initiated an inspection on 26 April this year. The finings which it issued included the repeated citations for the employer’s failure to:
Administer an effective hearing conservation program.
Ensure nameplates were maintained in a legible condition.
Protect petroleum gas storage tanks with crash rails or guards.
Store and handle liquefied petroleum properly.
Outline clear and specific energy control procedures for shutting down and securing machines and equipment.
Further to this the agency said that three serious citations relate to:
Improper storage of compressed gas cylinders.
Not ensuring an employee successfully completed training to operate a powered industrial truck.
Not allowing sufficient access and working space around electrical equipment.
One other violation was cited for failure to report a work-related amputation within the required 24 hours.
“The issuance of repeated citations is a clear indication that Columbia Recycling continues to ignore OSHA’s safety standards and lacks concern to protect workers at this facility,” commented Christi Griffin, OSHA’s director of the Atlanta-West Office.
“Employers need to be proactive and should not wait for an OSHA inspection to assess and correct workplace safety hazards,” he added.
OSHA has proposed a penalties of $317,814 be imposed on the firm.
OSHA said that the company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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