OSHA cited Linzer Products Corp., Wyandanch, N.Y., and proposed penalties of $158,400 against the firm for 74 alleged serious violations and 11 other-than-serious violations of OSHA standards.
According to OSHA, the action results from an investigation conducted from May 11 through Nov. 9, at the plant, which employs about 180 workers and is engaged in importing, manufacturing and distributing paint brushes, rollers and brooms.
The inspection was initiated after OSHA''s Long Island office received a report from OSHA in Concord, N.H., of numerous safety violations at American Brush Inc., a Linzer subsidiary.
The alleged serious violations for which the employer was cited included:
- failure to provide proper guards on flywheel, gears, horizontal belts and pulleys, cranks and connecting rods, shafts and other critical locations on machines;
- failure to provide a program of periodic and regular inspections of presses and to provide training to operators before they worked on presses;
- failure to develop and use lockout/tagout procedures designed to prevent the accidental start-up of machines during servicing or maintenance;
- violations of OSHA standards on methylene chloride;
- allowing employees to walk or stand under the elevated forks of powered industrial trucks; and
- electrical hazards, including failure to ensure that over current devices for 600-volt circuits were readily accessible.
The employer was also cited for failure to properly complete the OSHA log of injuries and illnesses, failure to properly maintain fire extinguishers, failure to provide grinding equipment with appropriate work rests or tongue guards, and other alleged other-than-serious violations.
The company has until Dec. 4 to contest the citations.
by Virginia Sutcliffe