OSHA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 5/6

In the US, employers are required by law to provide a safe, healthy workplace for every employee (OSH Act of 1970) . Failure to comply with applicable OSHA health & safety standards can easily lead to preventable injuries and fatal accidents at workplaces of all types.

The enforcement actions highlighted below provide insight into how and why OSHA issues citations for workplace safety violations. All violations discussed are alleged only unless we say otherwise.

We withhold the names of organizations and individuals subject to enforcement to protect their privacy. Check out OSHA’s latest list of the 10 most-cited safety Standards here.

A New Jersey auto recycling facility received 35 workplace safety citations and faces $868,628 in penalties.

OSHA issued 35 citations for workplace safety violations at an auto recycler’s Camden, New Jersey, facility. Alleged violations include two willful violations for failing to ensure employees could exit the workplace safely and four repeat violations for not protecting workers from machine operation hazards, inadequate machine lockout/tagout procedures, and failure to control flammable liquids.

OSHA also identified electrical and noise hazards putting employees at risk, as well as fall protection violations. The company will pay $868,628 in penalties.

An EV battery manufacturer faces $77,000 in penalties following a lithium battery fire.

Federal workplace safety inspectors allegedly found the global electric vehicle battery manufacturer had exposed employees to serious safety and health hazards after workers suffered potentially permanent respiratory damage in an October 2023 lithium battery fire.

OSHA cited the company for five serious violations related to:

• Failing to train on-site emergency responders and members of the fire brigade on hazards associated with lithium battery fires and equip them to treat employees exposed to such hazards.
• Failing to train workers on hazardous chemicals in their work areas and a means to protect themselves from lithium battery fires.
• Exposing workers to inhalation hazards, including hydrofluoric acid vapors produced in lithium battery fires, by failing to establish a complete emergency response plan.
• Not ensuring their staffing agency made their employees aware of the hazards associated with lithium battery fires.
• Failing to annually fit-test workers required to utilize tight-fitting facepiece respirators.

A Pennsylvania food manufacturing facility faces $761,876 in civil penalties for hazardous chemical management violations.

In October 2023, OSHA inspectors opened an investigation at the Centre Hall plant in response to a complaint alleging hazards involving the company's handling of highly hazardous chemicals.

OSHA cited the company for 70 violations, including nine repeat, 51 serious, and 11 other-than-serious violations. The infractions related to numerous Process Safety Management failures, such as lack of training, not correcting equipment deficiencies, failing to document that equipment complied with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices, and failing to establish an emergency plan for the entire plant.

OSHA cited the company for similar violations at its Clayton, Delaware, facility in 2019 and 2021.

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