The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued 24 serious safety and health violations and proposed more than US$300,000 in penalties to BCP Ingredients, a subsidiary of Balchem Corp.
Two complaints of unsafe working conditions at the company’s Verona, MO, nutrition production plant led federal safety and health inspectors to investigate allegations of worker exposure to multiple safety and health hazards, including toxic substances, combustible dust and moving machinery parts.
Investigators cited multiple OSHA violations, including exposing workers to:
- Amputations due to lack of adequate machine guarding and hazardous energy control procedures, a process commonly known as lockout/tagout
- Toxic and hazardous chemicals, such as ethylene oxide and methylene chloride, because of inadequate process safety management procedures and monitoring
- Combustible dust hazards
- Fall hazards of greater than 4 feet while walking on working surfaces
- Electrical safety hazards
Read the full report at Feed Strategy.
