Quality Industries, LLC in Hartwell Fined by OSHA

Federal labor officials say a Hartwell company has been cited for eight safety and health violations.

According to a press release issued this week by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational, Safety, and Health Administration, Quality Industries LLC was cited after a February inspection at its facility.

The company manufactures boat seats, electrical equipment coverings and molds for municipal transportation services.

Three repeat violations, with $30,100 in penalties, involve the employer exposing workers: to fall hazards from an unguarded platform, caught-in hazards at the point of operation on the bender press and to fire/explosive hazards due to fiberglass dust not being cleaned from work areas.  A repeat violation is issued when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. Quality Industries was previously cited for these violations in October 2012.

Five serious violations, with $14,000 in penalties, involve the employer failing to post signage to inform workers of the existence and location of confined spaces; provide specific steps to remove lockout/tagout devices; maintain personal protective equipment in a sanitary and reliable condition; ensure that workers required to wear corrective lenses covered them with protective safety glasses; and not developing or implementing a written respiratory protection program for workers required to wear respirators while performing grinding, sanding and cutting operations on materials containing fiberglass. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

“This employer has had ample opportunity to remove these hazards from its workplace, especially since the same problems were previously cited, yet it chose to continue exposing its employees to them,” said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA’s Atlanta-East Area Office. “Allowing previously cited violations to reoccur indicate important management failures and weaknesses in the company’s safety and health program, which ought to identify and remove hazards immediately.”

Quality Industries specializes in manufacturing boat seats, coverings for electrical equipment and molds for city transportation services. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA has fined Quality Industries $44,000 and has given the company 15 days to comply or contest the citations.