Fitzgerald, Ga., manufacturer facing over $71,000 in penalties after inspection by OSHA

http://hr.cch.com/news/safety/012308a.asp

OSHA has levied 12 safety violations, with $71,750 in proposed penalties, against Modern Dispersions South Inc.’s Fitzgerald, Ga., manufacturing facility. Modern Dispersions South Inc. is a thermoplastic compounder and concentrate maker.

In June 2007, four of the company’s 130 employees were hospitalized after a fire occurred while employees attempted to unclog a machine containing carbon black powder and polyethylene pellets.

OSHA inspectors issued one willful safety violation with a $49,000 proposed penalty for the company’s failure to use lockout/tagout control procedures when employees attempted to clear jammed machines. A willful violation is one committed with plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health.

“Management must put the safety of people first and ahead of its need to maintain production schedules,” said John J. Deifer, OSHA’s area director in Savannah.

The company was also cited for 10 serious violations, with $19,250 in proposed penalties, and one other-than-serious violation, with a proposed penalty of $3,500. The other-than-serious violation was for the employer’s failure to notify OSHA, within eight hours, of the in-patient hospitalization of three or more employees. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not cause death or serious physical harm but would have a direct and immediate relationship to the safety and health of employees.

The company has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to contest them, and the proposed penalties, before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA’s area office in Savannah, 450 Mall Blvd., Suite J; telephone 912-652-4393.