A local paper and plastics recycler has been cited for exposing workers to fire, explosion and machine guarding hazards.
Nemo Plastics located on Candler Road in Gainesville has been cited for 21 alleged safety and health violations after an inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OHSA). The inspection was initiated after the agency received a complaint.
Among the alleged serious violations OSHA uncovered was exposing workers to explosion and fire hazards by allowing combustible dust to accumulate, a failure to provide employees personal protective clothing, a failure to implement a hazardous energy control program to prevent machinery from starting up during maintenance and servicing, a failure to evaluate spaces such as silos to determine if they were permit-required confined spaces, exposing workers to amputation hazards due to missing machine guards and a failure to develop a noise monitoring program.
The other-than-serious alleged violations include exposing workers to electrical hazards, not providing mandatory information for employees using respirators and failing to post combustible dust warning signs.
The proposed penalties for Nemo Plastics are expected to total $133,443.
"Nemo Plastics is responsible to assess workplace hazards and ensure measures are taken to protect employees," said William Fulcher, OSHA's area director in the Atlanta-East Office. "Workers should not have to risk their lives or health to provide for themselves and their families. The hazards identified during this complaint inspection are preventable by taking basic safety precautions such as providing personal protective equipment, performing routine housekeeping and guarding machines so that a worker doesn't get injured or killed."
A representative from Nemo Plastics said they had no comment on the matter at this time.
