New Jersey-based J&J Snackfoods will have to pay $152,934 in fines and hire a full-time corporate safety director after exposing its workers to serious machine hazards.
OSHA and the company reached a region-wide agreement to improve workplace safety and health at the company’s eight food manufacturing and warehouse facilities throughout New Jersey and New York.
"This settlement shows the Department’s enforcement efforts leading to positive changes on important safety issues," said Regional Solicitor Jeffrey S. Rogoff said in a statement. "A repeat violator with a history of safety problems related to machine hazards took responsibility and is improving those conditions across the region, beyond the violations identified by a single inspection at a single facility."
An inspection in September 2018 uncovered willfull and repeat violations throughout the food manufacturer's facilities. OSHA cited J&J Snackfoods for exposing its workers to serious machine hazards; failing to train employees and failure to utilize procedures to control hazardous energy when performing servicing and maintenance work on machinery.
In addition to the penalty, the company is now required to hire a full-time corporate safety director to manage and coordinate safety and health across all facilities and a full-time site-safety manager to coordinate safety and health onsite at the facility.
"This settlement reflects a commitment to comply with required standards and ensure that employees are protected from hazards that pose a risk for injuries," said OSHA’s New York Acting Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson in a statement.
J&J Snackfoods also will hire a qualified safety and health professional as an outside consultant to conduct two comprehensive safety and health inspections per year and implement a written safety and health program consistent with OSHA’s best practices guidelines.
Workers now must be offered safety and health training in a language they understand, and the company muse establish a safety and health committee comprised of employees, union representatives and managers to recommend further safety and health improvements.