OSHA Inspection: LEHIGH VALLEY DAIRIES, INCORPORATED

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Feb 1, 1989

Penalty

Initial $490 · Current $318 Reduced

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The
employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were
free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death
or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to
employees are exposed to excessive risk of back injury from a pulling
task without administration or engineering controls:
a) Cooler - employees designated as Loader/Checkers were observed
pulling cartons of product stacked six high, each carton weighing
approximately 40 pounds, with a hook. The injury and illness records
for 1983 through 1987 documented a pattern of high incidence of
musculosketal injuries for employees working as Loader/Checker.
Observed 5/25/88
Abatement Schedule
Step 1 - Effective administrative protection, such as employee training,
physical assessment, job rotation, etc. shall be provided as
an interim protective measure until feasible engineering or
permanent administrative controls can be implemented which
will reduce employee exposure to nominal risk.
Step 2 - Submit to the Area Director a written, detailed plan of
abatement outlining a schedule for the implementation of
engineering or administrative measures to control employee
injury due to manual lifting tasks. Engineering controls to
reduce musculoskeletal stresses include, but are not limited
to job redesign, reduction of the horizontal and vertical load
distance from the body, reduction of the lifting frequency, or
weight, and use of mechanical lifting aids. This plan shall
include at a minimum, target dates for the following actions
which must be consistent with the dates required by this
citation.
1) Evaluation of the conditions, locations and manual lifting activities
that the employees are performing at the onset of musculoskeletal
injuries.
2) Evaluation of applicable control measure(s).
3) Procurement, installation and operation of selected control measures.
Step 3 - Abatement shall have been completed by implementation of
feasible engineering or administrative controls, upon
verification of their effectiveness in reducing the occurrence
of musculoskeletal injuries.

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Aug 1, 1988

Penalty

Initial $420 · Current $273 Reduced

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The
employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were
free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death
or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to
the hazard of being overcome by toxic and asphyxicant gases and/or
deficiency of oxygen while performing work inside of tanks:
a) Lehigh Valley Dairies, Incorporated - throughout plant.
Observed 5/25/88
Abatement Note: Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable
abatement method to correct this hazard is to establish a confined
space entry program which would include at least the following
essentials:
1) Prior to employee entry into the tank, employees designated to
perform this task shall be provided with training including
information concerning the nature of the hazards likely to be
encountered during the confined space entry, including the symptoms
and consequences of contaminant overexposure and oxygen deficiency
emergency entry and exit procedures, use of applicable respirators,
first aid, lockout classroom training sessions and rescue training
drills shall be provided on at least an annual basis to develop and
maintain the proficiency of the employees at performing confined
space entry work.
2) A program of atmospheric testing for oxygen deficiency, flammable
gases and vapors and other hazardous atmospheric contaminants shall
be completed by a qualified person using a properly calibrated direct
reading oxygen, combustible gas and toxic gas indicator. This testing
shall be done throughout accessible areas of the space and adjacent
spaces and shall be carried out prior to the entry of employees for
work.
3) Rescue procedures shall be specifically designed for each entry.
There shall be a trained stand-by person assigned to that confined
space with a fully charged, positive pressure, self-contained
breathing apparatus (SCBA) at hand. Additional duties of the stand-by
person are to maintain unobstructed life lines & communications to

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Jul 21, 1988

Penalty

Initial $280 · Current $182 Reduced

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Jul 1, 1988

Penalty

Initial $350 · Current $227 Reduced

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Aug 1, 1988

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Jul 21, 1988

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Jul 1, 1988

Issued

Jun 27, 1988

Abate by

Jul 1, 1988