OSHA Inspection: SOUTHERN FOODS GROUP, LLC

Issued

Jun 8, 2016

Abate by

Jul 4, 2016

Penalty

Initial $4,250 · Current $2,337 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 thermal burns:      (a)  Southern Foods Group, LLC dba Meadow Gold Dairies at 450 25th St., Greeley, CO 80631:  On and before December 10, 2015, it was common practice for sanitation employees to interrupt the wash cycle on the Clean-In-Place (CIP) system on the Cottage Cheese/Skim Line.  The employer did not ensure that when the wash cycle was interrupted, that hot water heated to approximately 190 degrees Fahrenheit, was flushed from the system before employees manually operated equipment parts.  Sanitation employees sustained 3rd and 1st degree thermal burns after being sprayed with hot water when they manually operated a pipe jumper on the CIP after its wash cycle had been interrupted.       Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is redesign the process, program and/or valves in the system to prevent unexpected activation of the valves to prevent the discharge of hot water.        Another feasible method is to develop and implement a detailed written Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with step-by-step procedures stating how to safely shutdown the CIP system after its wash cycle is interrupted.  Employees shall be protected from unexpected discharges of hot water.