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

cited Case Farms Processing, Inc. for fifty five safety and health violations, comprised of thirty

serious, twenty repeat, two willful, and three other than serious safety and health violations. They

come in response to an inspection of a facility in Winesburg, Ohio, in February of 2015. This

inspection was initiated in response to a referral. This marks the sixty sixth time this company

has been audited since 1988, and from those inspections the company has been cited for over

three hundred and fifty safety and health violations. The violations from the inspection in

February carry proposed penalties of $861,500.

“Case Farms is an outrageously dangerous place to work. In the past 25 years, Case Farms has

been cited for more than 350 safety and health violations,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant

secretary of labor for occupational safety and Health. “Despite committing to OSHA that it

would eliminate serious hazards, Case Farms continues to endanger the safety and health of its

workers. This simply must stop.”

While this is an extreme example, it does show what the cumulative effect of not heeding

warnings from OSHA can bring. If your company is inspected by OSHA and there are

deficiencies in your occupational safety and health policies and procedures uncovered, it is

important to correct them. Otherwise, you can wind up a repeat offender and become a target of

the Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which requires mandatory inspections.

If you have any questions about your occupational safety and health policies and procedures, or

if you would like help in updating them, please contact us. If you have anything to add about this

inspection, please leave a comment.