OSHA Cites Ga. Manufacturer for Safety Hazards

The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Georgia-based Leggett and Platt Inc. for reportedly exposing workers to serious safety and health hazards at its Covington manufacturing plant. The agency is proposing penalties totaling $78,500.

OSHA issued 16 serious citations with proposed penalties of $48,500 for failing to have required safety and health programs for: respirators, confined spaces, hazard communication, fall protection and lockout-tagout procedures, which render machinery inoperable during maintenance and repair. Investigators also observed the lack of emergency eyewash and shower facilities for employees working with corrosive chemicals and several electrical hazards.

The company also received three repeat citations with proposed penalties of $30,000 for failing to remove defective industrial trucks from service, lack of machine guarding and inappropriate use of compressed air. A repeat citation is issued when an employer has been cited previously for a substantially similar condition and the citation has become a final order of the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The company, which has locations nationwide, has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.