Workers continue to be exposed to amputation, other hazards at Lebanon Seaboard Corporation in Danville, Illinois

Employer name: Lebanon Seaboard Corporation

Investigation site: 508 W. Ross Lane, Danville, Illinois

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On Dec. 30, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Peoria office initiated an inspection at the fertilizer manufacturer. The company was on the 2014 Site Specific Targeting List for high-hazard industries.

Investigation findings: Investigators found two safety violations which had also been cited at Lebanon Seaboard Corporation in 2011. The company failed to provide employee's fit testing for respirator use and did not conduct annual inspections of procedures for applying locking devices which prevent unintentional operation of machinery. OSHA issued two repeated and six serious violations.

Other violations included:

• Failing to protect workers from operating parts of machinery by the use of guards.
• Exposing workers to fall hazards of up to 8 feet because working surfaces lacked safety rails.
• Electrical safety violations
• Not training workers on the use of respirators and fire extinguishers

"Each year thousands of workers suffer lacerations, amputations and other serious injuries because these machine safety procedures are not in place," said Thomas Bielema, OSHA's area director in Peoria. "Companies like Lebanon Seaboard Corporation who are cited for repeat violations demonstrate a lack of commitment to employee safety and health."

Proposed Penalties: $89,500

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Peoria Area Office at 309-589-7033.