OSHA Serves $150,000 Fine to Olé Mexican Foods for Alleged Safety Hazards

OSHA has cited Olé Mexican Foods Inc. for two repeat, 14 serious and three other-than-serious safety and health violations, and the agency is proposing $150,040 in fines for the citations.

OSHA said it discovered the alleged violations during a June complaint inspection at the company’s tortilla-making facility in Norcross, Ga.

"This employer received citations for the same hazards earlier and did not correct them,” said William Fulcher, director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office. “Additionally, amputation and caught-in hazards remained, posing a risk of serious injury or even death for their workers. These hazards must be eliminated immediately from the workplace."

The repeat violations, with $77,000 in penalties, involve failing to ensure that workers performing equipment servicing and maintenance understood the energy-control program and procedures and the procedures for caught-in and amputation hazards from the points of operation on equipment in the production area. OSHA cited Olé for the same violations in 2011.

According to OSHA, the serious safety and health violations, totaling $73,040 in penalties, involve failing to:

• Clearly and specifically outline the energy-control procedures for all energy sources on the mixers and production equipment.
• Instruct each affected worker on the purpose and scope of the energy control program.
• Ensure that authorized workers in the energy-control program were utilizing lockout procedures when performing service on mixers.
• Cover drainage troughs and guarded platforms to prevent trip and fall hazards.
• Prevent exposure to amputation and caught-in hazards from protruding shaft ends and unguarded chain and sprockets.
• Ensure unobstructed exit routes.

The other-than-serious violations, with no monetary penalty, involve failing to store supplies properly against the wall of the spray booth; establish a written exposure-control plan for workers trained and expected to perform first aid; and for allowing lockout locks to be used other than for energy control, according to OSHA.

Olé Mexican Foods Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply with or challenge the citations and penalties.