OSHA cites Sheboygan, Wisconsin, plastic manufacturer for not evaluating its hazardous chemical procedures

Employer name: Plastics Engineering Company

Inspection site: 2732 North 15^th Street, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Citations issued: Feb. 22, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Appleton Area Office cited Plastic Engineering Company for one willful, five serious and one other-than-serious safety violation.

OSHA opened an investigation at the plastics resin manufacturer under the national emphasis program for process safety management. OSHA’s process safety management standards include a process hazard analysis, a careful review of what could go wrong and what safeguards must be implemented to prevent releases of hazardous chemicals and exposure by employees.

The federal agency cited the company for:

• Not certifying process safety management procedures had been evaluated every three years.
• Failing to consider impact of equipment and operation changes on safety and health.
• Not ensuring process safety information was current and accurate.
• Inadequate emergency action plan.

Quote: “Companies that use hazardous chemicals in their manufacturing process must evaluate their procedures and safety plans to ensure safeguards are in place. Workers must also be trained on how to recognize and deal with any potential risks,” said Robert Bonack, OSHA’s area director in Appleton. “Complying with OSHA’s common sense safety standards protects workers from injury on the job.”

Proposed Penalties: $82,000

View citations here.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Appleton Area Office at 920-734-4521.