SHARONVILLE, Ohio – The US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Green Bay, Wis. – based American Foods LLC with seven violations, including one repeat violation, at the company’s Sharonville, Ohio meat processing plant, according to the agency. Proposed fines total $47,000.

OSHA cited the company for a repeat violation for failing to conduct periodic and regular inspections of lockout procedures for the energy sources of equipment. The agency said similar violations were cited at the company's Green Bay facility in 2009.

"Failing to ensure that energy sources are isolated and locked prior to initiating maintenance of machinery places workers at greater risk of amputations and other serious injuries," said Bill Wilkerson, OSHA's area director in Cincinnati. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."
Several serious violations include failing to:

• train employees who service equipment so that they are authorized to implement the energy control program;

• train employees on how to troubleshoot electrical equipment using safe work practices;

• train employees on the operation of powered industrial trucks;

• affix locks to machines' energy isolation devices prior to allowing employees to perform maintenance and servicing operations; and

• provide locks to production employees who service equipment.

OSHA also cited American Foods for one other-than-serious violation — failing to develop and implement energy control procedures for newly installed equipment that uses the same energy sources as other machines within the facility.

American Foods Group operates food processing facilities in Long Prairie and St. Paul, Minn.; Yankton, SD; and Gibbon and Omaha, Neb. OSHA said previous corporate-wide inspections of the company, resulted in citations for violations related to lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks and personal protective equipment standards.