When federal workplace safety inspectors returned to a Boston food plant in March 2023, they said they discovered the plant’s operator — Chinese Spaghetti Factory Inc. — still had not installed required safety guards on a dumpling machine’s rotating shafts, a dangerous hazard for which the company was cited for after an employee suffered serious injuries in 2022.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted the follow-up inspection at the Newmarket Street facility to verify that the company had corrected the unsafe conditions inspectors said they identified in 2022. As a result, OSHA proposed an additional $82,500 penalty for failing to correct this hazard.
The agency said its safety inspection and a concurrent health inspection found several new and recurring hazards, which led OSHA to issue citations and propose $108,031 in penalties. These were for allegedly allowing the dumpling machine’s gears to remain unguarded, as two employees worked in close proximity; for exposing employees to the risks of electrical shock from unguarded electrical and operating parts of machinery, and for lacking a program to prevent the unintended activation of various machines, including grinders, choppers, and forming and filling machines, while employees cleaned them.
OSHA also alleges it found three serious violations for an incomplete hearing conservation program for employees exposed to high noise levels, inadequate eyewash facilities for employees working with corrosive cleaners, and an incomplete chemical hazard communication program.
Since 2017, OSHA inspections have identified 10 serious, repeat and other-than-serious violations at the Chinese Spaghetti Factory’s location.
In total, the company faces $190,541 in proposed fines for its recent uncorrected, recurring and new hazards, according to OSHA.
“The sizable penalties in this case reflect the gravity of this situation and the dangers faced by people employed at the Chinese Spaghetti Factory’s facility,” said OSHA Area Director James Mulligan in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Chinese Spaghetti Factory has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings.
Source: OSHA
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