New Jersey Food Manufacturer and OSHA Meet Safety Agreement
J&J Snackfoods and OSHA agree on safety and health improvements at the company’s eight facilities after repeated inspection fines.
After food manufacturer J&J Snackfoods was cited time and time again for exposing employees to serious machine hazards, the company has agreed on a settlement with OSHA to avoid future violations.
OSHA and J&J Snackfoods are committed to improving safety and health in eight of the company locations throughout New Jersey and New York. Under the settlement, the Pennasauken, New Jersey-based company agreed to pay a $152,934 penalty.
In September of 2018, OSHA cited the company after an inspection proved that the company exposed employees to serious machine hazards. OHSA issued willful and repeat citations for failing to train employees and utilize procedures to control hazardous energy when they perform servicing and maintenance work on machinery.
“This settlement shows the Department's enforcement efforts leading to positive changes on important safety issues,” said Regional Solicitor Jeffrey S. Rogoff, in New York. “A repeat violator with a history of safety problems related to machine hazards took responsibility and is improving those conditions across the region, beyond the violations identified by a single inspection at a single facility.”
The settlement is not just about paying a fine for its safety downfalls. J&J Snackfoods agreed to “hire a full-time corporate safety director to manage and coordinate safety and health across all facilities, and a full-time site-safety manager to coordinate safety and health onside at the facility.” Additionally, the company will “hire a qualitied safety and health professional as an outside consultant to conduct two comprehensive safety and health inspections per year and implement a written safety and health program consistent with OSHA’s best practice guidelines.”
OSHA is holding companies accountable for not ensuring the safety of their workers. However, this goes beyond just issuing a hefty fine—it is incorporating programs to ensure that safety sticks.