The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Publix Super Markets Inc. with safety violations at its West Beaver Street distribution facility where an employee lost his hand in an accident while cleaning equipment.
A complaint was received in September about the accident and the company has been targeted with numerous violations with proposed penalties totaling $182,000, said the department.
“Publix is well aware of the hazards the cleaning crew was exposed to, yet took no steps to safeguard employees by controlling the conveyor equipment’s energy source,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville, in a news release.
“Exposing workers to amputation hazards is unacceptable and corrective action must be taken immediately,” he said.
The department said one of the violations was “willful,” meaning it was committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, and is a $70,000 penalty.
Two repeat violations could result in penalties of $66,000 and include a failure to develop, document and utilize lockout/tagout procedures and not conducting an annual inspection of the energy control procedures, said the department. A Georgia location was cited for the same violation in 2008.
Six serious violations could result in penalties of $39,400 for failing to adequately train employees in numerous safety aspects. Six other-than-serious safety violations could result in penalties of $6,660 for failed paperwork completion.
Publix has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before an independent commission.
Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens said Wednesday the company will appeal the citation and strives to maintain a safe work environment.
“We disagree with the citations issued to our Jacksonville Fresh Foods facility, we disagree with the opinions expressed by OSHA’s Jacksonville Area Director, and we plan to appeal the citations,” he said.
“In the meantime, we are actively working on identifying and addressing any issues that may have contributed to this unfortunate incident and are constantly developing ways to improve our safety performance,” he said.
Publix is now placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program due to repeat violations. The program mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure legal compliance.
Publix, based in Lakeland, is a privately owned company with 1,026 supermarkets, eight distribution centers and five manufacturing facilities.
It has operations in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. The Jacksonville distribution center employs approximately 450 workers, said the news release.
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