Chautauqua County manufacturer fails to correct fall hazard, allows recurring electrical hazard; faces OSHA fines of $87K

Employer name: Jamestown MVP LLC, 2061 Allen Street, Falconer, New York 14733.

Doing business as MVP Plastics, the company manufactures disposable plates and bowls.

Citations issued: On June 13, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one citation for failure to abate a previously cited violation, and one citation for a repeat violation.

Investigation: On March 16, 2016, OSHA’s Buffalo Area Office opened a follow-up inspection after the company failed to verify correction of previous violations. In their inspection, federal workplace safety and health inspectors discovered the employer had not corrected a hazard cited in the original 2015 inspection and allowed another hazardous condition to recur.

Specifically, inspectors found company employees still exposed to fall hazards while working on a fabricated work platform that the employer did not inspect to determine, rate and mark the how much weight it could support. The company was also using extension cords – rather than a permanent power cord – to power a box-making machine and exposed employees to electric shock hazards.

Proposed penalties: $87,520

Quote: “Jamestown MVP LLC failed to protect its employees from electrical and fall hazards by not providing safeguards that are intended to prevent worker injury or even death,” said Michael Scime, OSHA’s area director in Buffalo. “The penalties for this inspection reflect OSHA’s commitment to hold employers responsible for failing to comply with safety standards, and to protect employee safety and health.”

Jamestown MVP has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

View the citations:  Failure to Abate. Repeat.

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 Buffalo Area Office at 716-551-3053.