OSHA has cited four successor companies for alleged repeat and serious violations and has proposed combined penalties of $125,600 against the companies.The alleged violations were discovered during follow-up inspections to determine the companies' compliance with earlier settlement agreements and correction of hazards cited in earlier inspections.
While the overall number of citations had declined from previous inspections, these latest inspections still identified several instances where significant safety and health problems reoccurred. The most serious include structurally unsound or unsupported roof rafters and elevated catwalks in outbuildings, failure to ensure that employees knew how to properly clean and disinfect respirators, allowing an employee to use torn gloves while removing chicken carcasses, having employees consume food in unsanitary locations, the use of defective cranes and trucks that were never inspected, contaminated and defective eyewash facilities, and unprotected propane fuel tanks.
These companies must intensify and improve upon their previously stated commitment to provide a safe and healthful work environment.
A repeated violation is issued by OSHA when an employer has been previously cited for a substantially similar violation and that citation has become final. In this case, the repeat citations are all based on similar hazardous cited at the Turner farm in May 1999.
A serious violation is defined by OSHA as one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.
