OSHA finds plastic recycler, Cycle Tex Inc., continues to expose workers to fall and amputation hazards

Employer name: Cycle Tex Inc.

Inspection site: 906 East Hermitage Road, Rome, Georgia 30161

Date inspection initiated: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration initiated the Jan. 20, 2015, inspection after the agency received a complaint.

Inspection findings: OSHA issued the employer two repeated and six serious safety violations. The repeated citations were issued for failing to develop procedure to prevent machinery from starting up during maintenance and servicing and for exposing workers to flying debris from a grinder that was missing a safety guard. The serious violations involve exposing workers to fall hazards by not having railings on open-sided platforms and not providing personal protective equipment to workers that came into contact with hot equipment.

Quote: "Cycle Tex has once again subjected workers to amputation and fall hazards which were previously cited in 2010," said Christi Griffin, OSHA's director of the Atlanta-West Area Office. "We are requiring management to make immediate corrections to the hazards identified during this inspection."

Proposed penalties: $58,410

The citations can be viewed at: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151116fs.pdf

Cycle Tex Inc. turns plastic waste into pellets that are resold across the United States. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Atlanta-West Area Office at 678-903-7301.