OSHA cited Thatcher Company of New York, Williamson, N.Y., and proposed penalties of $58,800 against the firm for one alleged failure to abate, one alleged repeat violation and one alleged serious violation of OSHA standards.
The company has until November 13 to contest the citations.
According to Diane Brayden, OSHA area director, the action results from an investigation conducted from June 6 to Oct. 5 to follow up an inspection which had been cited as a serious violation in 1997 and which the employer said would be completed.
A failure to abate is a notice of additional penalty issued against an employer who has failed to correct a violation which has become a final order of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
The alleged failure to abate carries a proposed penalty of $52,500.
The firm was also cited for failing to prevent employees from being exposed to gluteraldehyde, a chemical used in photo developers, at levels above industry-standard exposure limits.
Thatcher was previously cited for this condition in May, 1997. The alleged violation carries a proposed penalty of $4,200.
Finally, the firm was cited for failing to provide employees with respirators to protect them from airborne gluteraldehyde, an alleged serious violation carrying a proposed penalty of $2,100.
by Virginia Sutcliffe