The United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration

has cited Film Pak Extrusion, LLC for 13 workplace violations related to unsafe work

conditions. These violations consist of one willful and 12 serious workplace violations,

which resulted from a February inspection at the company’s Paterson manufacturing

facility. The citations carry $90,300 in proposed penalties.

The largest citation came for a willful violation due to a lack of machine guarding. This

one citation carried a $56,000 proposed penalty.

“Machines left without required guards can cause catastrophic injury to workers,

including amputation and death. One slip can end a worker’s life or livelihood, and

employers can prevent that,” said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA’s Hasbrouck Heights Area

Office. “Film Pak Extrusion has a responsibility to put worker safety first.”

The remaining citations were for an obstructed exit route, lack of a lockout/tagout

program, powered industrial trucks not inspected prior to use, lack of a hearing

conservation program, failure to conduct audiometric testing, failure to provide hearing

protection and training on hearing protection and noise hazards, and failure to maintain

washing facilities.

As you can see, these citations are all over the map, from simple obstruction to lockout

tagout, to noise hazards. A proper safety and health management system would generally

help to limit the potential areas of citations; if one portion is not up to code, at least the

rest of your facility will be. But you need to have a plan in place to protect yourself

across the board. If you do not have one in place, it is time to consult a qualified third

party occupational safety and health auditing firm to help you create one.

If you have any questions about this case or about creating a safety and health

management system, please contact us. If you have anything to add, please leave a

comment.