After Recyc-Mattress Corp, an East Hartford, Connecticut mattress recycling company, failed to provide OSHA with information that it had remedied all the hazards cited in a 2015 inspection, the agency began an inspection on Jan. 12, 2016, to verify correction of the hazards.
OSHA found uncorrected, recurring and new hazards at the facility.
Recyc-Mattress Corp.:
- Did not develop and implement a written hazard communication program to inform employees about hazardous chemical and materials in the workplace, such as battery acid. [Uncorrected]
- Failed to provide respirator training to employees. [Uncorrected]
- Allowed mattresses and box springs to obstruct emergency exit access. [Recurring]
- Blocked access to the circuit breaker that provided power to machines in the shop with metal bushings, cardboard and plastic wrap. [Recurring]
- Permitted an emergency exit door to have its handle removed.
- Allowed employees to routinely unjam a shredder without first locking out its power source; the lockout procedures were not clear and specific to the shredder.
- Created electric shock hazards for employees with open junction box.
These conditions led OSHA to cite Recyc-Mattress for failing to abate two hazards and for two repeat and three violations of workplace safety standards.
"Employees were exposed to the risk of electric shock, being caught in a shredder, chemical hazards and being unable to exit the workplace swiftly in the event of a fire or other emergency,” said Warren Simpson, OSHA's area director in Hartford.
Proposed penalties: $74,520
Link to citations and failure to abate notice: http://go.usa.gov/xxAtV and http://go.usa.gov/xxAzk.
