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Soap manufacturer and staffing supplier fined

The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Marietta Corp., a soap and shampoo manufacturer, for exposing employees to chemical and fire hazards. Select Staffing, which provided the manufacturer with temporary employees, was also cited for chemical-related hazards.

Marietta was cited for three repeat and six serious violations with $103,800 in fines. According to OSHA, inspectors, acting on employee complaints, visited Marietta Corp. in Cortland, N.Y., and found flammable liquids were not stored or used properly; employees with respirators were not trained or checked medically; and containers with hazardous chemicals were not labeled correctly. Similar hazards were found at the Cortland plant in 2011 and at the company’s Chicago facility in 2010. Inspectors also found workers without needed eye and face protection and emergency eyewash stations; employees not trained in the use of dangerous chemicals; and forklift operators who did not receive refresher training.

Select Staffing received two serious violations with $10,000 in fines proposed. According to OSHA, the staffing agency did not provide workers exposed to dangerous chemicals with proper eye and face protection; lacked accessible data sheets for hazardous chemicals; and did not prove that a hazard assessment had been done to determine what protective equipment employees would need.

“The fact that we found new and repeated hazards shows Marietta Corp. must take worker health and well-being more seriously,” said Christopher Adams, OSHA’s area director in Syracuse, N.Y. “Its employees are at risk of illness, injury or worse from dangerous chemicals, fire and an inability to escape in an emergency.”

Each company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to respond.

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