Firm Failed to File OSHA Injury Logs at Facilities Where Workers Died
- Only five to seven of 17 packaged salad maker Taylor Farms’ facilities obligated to submit annual OSHA injury logs actually did so in a given year over the past five years, with gaps covering at least four facilities where workers were killed or seriously injured.
- A worker at Taylor Farms’ Swedesboro, New Jersey vegetable processing plant died last year while cleaning equipment, prompting OSHA to propose more than $1 million in fines for “willfully and repeatedly” violating safety requirements, citations Taylor Farms is disputing.
- The company’s North Kingstown, Rhode Island plant, which also had no recent filings in public databases, had an ammonia leak last November that sent 13 workers to the hospital, resulting in $23,000 in proposed OSHA citations that Taylor Farms is also contesting.
- Taylor Farms has accumulated nearly $1.8 million in OSHA and state citations since 2021 for machine hazards, amputations, and inadequate training.
- The company acknowledged the reporting gaps, saying it has since invested in new safety reporting software.
Pennsylvania Brick Manufacturer Cited for Knowingly Exposing Workers to Excess Silica Dust
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $496,528 in fines against General Shale Brick Inc., doing business as Watsontown Brick Company in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, after a February inspection found workerswere breathing respirable silica dust above federal safety limits.
- OSHA issued three willful, four serious, one repeat and one other-than-serious violation, alleging the company knew about the exposure but failed to correct the hazard or require respirators for affected workers.
- Investigators also cited the company for failing to conduct annual respirator fit testing, establish regulated areas for silica exposure, adequately monitor exposure levels across all affected jobs, and provide required medical examinations for workers exposed to silica more than 30 days per year.
- One violation was classified as a repeat offense tied to a prior citation for failing to conduct respirator fit testing at a facility in Augusta, Georgia.
- The company has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA, or contest the findings before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Two Workers Hurt as Massive Wood Structure Collapses Onto Parking Garage
- Two construction workers were injured, one seriously, when a wooden structure collapsed Aug. 26 at a condominium development along Irondequoit Bay in New York, according to Chief Shane Metcalfe of the Irondequoit Fire District.
- Firefighters responded at 10:32 a.m. to a report of a building collapse with workers trapped, arriving four minutes later to find a 40-by-150-foot wood structure had collapsed onto a two-level concrete parking garage. Both workers had already been freed by the time crews arrived.
- One worker was taken to Rochester General Hospital with traumatic injuries, while the other was treated on scene for minor injuries and returned to work.
- Metcalfe said the collapse occurred while workers were demolishing the wooden structure as part of a multi-year project to install steel staircases and upgrade the parking garage.
Fire Department Earns NIOSH Cancer Registry Recognition
- The Fairmont Fire Department has become the first in West Virginia to achieve Gold Helmet status from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for its participation in the agency’s national firefighter cancer registry, according to Chief Brian Starn.
- More than 50,000 firefighters from 165 departments across 32 states have contributed their on-the-job medical histories to the registry since it launched three years ago, with NIOSH using that data to develop screening, training and prevention programs aimed at protecting firefighters from long-term health risks.
- Starn emphasized that toxic exposure from burning synthetic materials, rather than flames themselves, poses the greater long-term danger to firefighters.
- Tim Nurkowicz, director of West Virginia University’s Center for Inhalation Technology, noted that burning homes and businesses release a toxic mix of chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde that create serious long-term health risks.
- Dustin Lambert, who oversees the department’s training and safety programs, said he hopes Fairmont’s achievement encourages other departments to participate, calling reliable data the starting point.