OSHA Inspection: CASE FARMS PROCESSING, INC.

Issued

Sep 29, 2016

Abate by

Aug 3, 2020

Penalty

Initial $12,471 · Current $7,234 Reduced

General-duty citation text

OSH Act of 1970 Section 5(a)(1):  The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause serious physical harm to employees, in that employees were required to perform manual palletizing and de-palletizing tasks in a manner that exposed them to elevated risk of developing low back injuries/pain due to risk factors/stressors including, but not limited to, excessive load weights and awkward postures resulting in excessive forces on the low back, repetition, and duration:        (c) Stack-off /Fast-food /Cut-up/ 8-piece area (large room; boxes):  On or about April 19, 2016 and times prior -  Employees were required to repeatedly remove boxes of uncooked injected 8-piece chicken products from a conveyor and load them unto a pallet in a manual fashion.  Employees manually lifted boxes of chicken products, with boxes weighing either 40 lbs. or 54 lbs. (depending on the product), from the conveyor and loaded the boxes onto pallets stacked up to 5 or 7 tiers high (also depending on the product).  Based on analysis of video and measurements taken on April 19, 2016, Application of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation revealed Composite Lifting Index (CLI) of approximately 3.8 for the collective demands of this lifting job.        (d) Stack-off/WOGS (small room; boxes):  On or about April 19, 2016 and times prior -  Teams of two employees were required to repeatedly remove boxes of various chicken products from a conveyor and load them unto a pallet in a manual fashion.  Employees manually lifted boxes of chicken products, with boxes weighing between 40 lbs. and 80 lbs. (depending on the product), from the conveyor and loaded the boxes onto pallets.  Based on analysis of video and measurements taken on April 19, 2016, Application of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Revised Lifting Equation revealed Composite Lifting Indices (CLIs) of 8.2 and 8.3 (for each employee, respectively) for the collective demands of this lifting job.        Note: The lifting index is the ratio between the load weight being lifted and the recommended weight limit given the tasks parameters.  A lifting index exceeding 3.0 represents a highly stressful lifting task for which nearly all workers will be at an increased risk of a work-related low back injury.