Bolted exit doors cited as safety hazard
Pointing to locked exit doors, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Admini stration has cited Naluco, doing business as American Flyer Travelware in Paterson, NJ, for three willful, 23 serious, and one other-than- serious violations of health and safety standards. Proposed penalties total $145,000.
The company assembles and distributes luggage to retailers. According to Lisa Levy, OSHA area director, the citations result from an inspection conducted from July 29, 1999 to Jan. 28, 2000, following a complaint that alleged that exit doors were locked, blocked, and inaccessible to employees in the event of an emergency.
OSHA cited the employer for these willful violations:
• failure to keep exit doors unlocked that were found bolted shut;
• failure to keep paths to various exit doors free from obstacles or obstructions;
• failure to ensure that foot pedals used to activate riveting machines were properly guarded to prevent unintentional start-up of the machines.
The alleged willful violations carries a penalty of $122,000.
"We found cases of flagrant disregard for safety regulations at this facility," Levy says. "During the course of our inspection, we found exit doors obstructed by boxes of luggage, making them unreachable. We also found various exits bolted shut, which would prevent employees being able to escape safely in the event of an emergency. These are the types of violations which put workers’ lives in jeopardy."
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