Among the wide range of dangers inspectors listed were the risk of laceration, amputation, or crushing injuries; electrical hazards; fire and explosion hazards stemming from combustible dust; improper storage of flammable liquids; and insufficient monitoring of exmployees’ exposure to hexavalent chromium.
"While it is fortunate that no one was injured here, good luck is never an acceptable worker safeguard,” said Patrick Griffin, OSHA's area director for Rhode Island. “For the safety and well-being of its workers, this employer must take effective, ongoing action to prevent these hazards from recurring."
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the voluntary recall Monday by Miami Breaker Inc. of Miami, Fla. They were sold by electrical product distributors and wholesalers nationwide from March 2005 through July 2006.
The agency’s latest action, with penalties of $420,000 against the mail facility in White River Junction, Vt., follows its citations against five individual postal facilities in June in various parts of the country -- all centering around insufficient electrical safety practices -- with fines adding up to more than $1.3 million for the month, plus DOL's filing on July 6 against USPS for enterprise-wide relief.