OSHA Inspection: LIFEWAY FOODS, INC.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $14,518 · Current $7,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.146(c)(4): When the employer decided that its employees would enter permit spaces, the employer did not develop and implement a written permit space entry program that complied with 29 CFR 1910.146:   a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not develop and implement a written permit space entry program for employees entering and cleaning the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $14,518 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR  1910.146(d)(2): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not identify and evaluate the hazards of confined spaces before employees entered:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not identify or evaluate the hazards associated with confined space entry and those hazards created by the work performed inside the confined space, including sanitizing the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $14,518 · Current $7,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(iii): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices necessary for safe permit space entry operations, including, but not limited to, isolating the permit space:   a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices necessary for safe permit space entry operations, including isolating hazardous energy sources when employees entered permit spaces, such as the Cheese Tanks. Employees were exposed to mechanical and thermal hazards while performing sanitation and cleaning inside the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.147(c)(1): The employer did not establish a program consisting of an energy control procedure, employee training, and periodic inspections to ensure that before any employee performed any servicing or maintenance on a machine or equipment where the unexpected energizing, startup, or release of stored energy could occur and cause injury, the machine or equipment shall be isolated from the energy source and rendered inoperative:  a) Facility wide - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not develop, document, or utilize an energy control program (lockout/tagout program) that included an energy control procedure for employees to follow, training to ensure that all required elements of the procedure were understood by employees, including safe application, usage, and removal of the energy isolating controls, and periodic inspections to ensure that employees were protected from injuries caused by the unexpected energizing of equipment or release of stored energy while performing servicing or maintenance on equipment, such as sanitation and cleaning on equipment.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $14,518 · Current $7,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(vi): Under the permit-required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices to verify that conditions in a permit space were acceptable for entry throughout the duration of an authorized entry:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices necessary for safe permit space entry operations, including verifying that hazardous energy sources were isolated throughout the duration of an authorized entry into permit spaces, including the cheese tanks. Employees were exposed to mechanical and thermal hazards while performing sanitation and cleaning inside the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(d)(5)(i): Under the permit required confined space program required by 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4), the employer did not evaluate permit space conditions when entry operations were conducted by testing conditions in the permit space to determine if acceptable entry conditions existed before entry was authorized to begin:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not evaluate the cheese tanks by testing the conditions of the permit space to determine if conditions were acceptable for employee entry.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(e)(1): Before entry was authorized, the employer did not document the completion of measures required by 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3) by preparing an entry permit:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not document the completion of the measures required for safe permit space entry. Entry permits were not completed prior to entering permit spaces, such as the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(j)(2): The employer did not ensure that each entry supervisor verified, by checking that the appropriate entries had been made on the permit, that all tests specified by the permit had been conducted and that all procedures and equipment specified by the permit had been in-place before endorsing the permit and allowing entry to begin.  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not ensure that an entry supervisor verified the entry permit before entry was allowed into permit spaces, such as the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $14,518 · Current $7,500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(j)(4): The employer did not ensure that each entry supervisor verified that rescue services were available and that the means for summoning them were operable:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not ensure that entry supervisors verified that rescue services were available and the means for summoning them were operable when employees entered permit spaces, such as the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(k)(1)(i): When designating rescue and emergency services pursuant to paragraph (d)(9), the employer did not evaluate the prospective rescuer's ability to respond to a rescue summons in a timely manner, considering the hazards identified:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not ensure that a prospective rescue service was able to respond to the facility in a timely manner when employees were required to enter permit-required confined spaces, such as the cheese tanks. Access to permit spaces, disclosure of hazards and rescue plans and operations were not executed for permit spaces where rescue may be necessary.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(k)(1)(iv): When designating rescue and emergency services pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(9), the employer did not inform each rescue service of the hazards they may confront when called on to perform a rescue at the site:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not inform the prospective rescue service of the hazards and rescue plans and operations where rescue may be necessary for permit spaces, including the cheese tank.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(k)(1)(v): When designating rescue and emergency services pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.146(d)(9), the employer did not provide the rescue team or service selected with access to all permit spaces from which rescue may be necessary, so that the rescue service could develop appropriate rescue plans and practice rescue operations:  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not provide a prospective rescue service with access to permit spaces so that the rescue service could develop rescue plans and practice rescue operations for permit spaces from which rescue may be necessary, such as the cheese tanks.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Oct 15, 2024

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.146(k)(3): To facilitate non-entry rescue, retrieval systems or methods were not used whenever an authorized entrant entered a permit space.  a) South Tank Area - On May 8, 2024, an employee entered the cheese tank without utilizing a rescue retrieval system. Employees were exposed to mechanical and thermal hazards.

Issued

Jul 22, 2024

Abate by

Sep 3, 2024

Penalty

Initial $8,296 · Current $5,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.212(a)(1): One or more methods of machine guarding was not provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks:  a) Production/Processing - On May 8, 2024, the employer did not ensure that all hazards created by ingoing nip points and rotating parts, including the nip point between the end of the conveyor and the stop bar, were adequately guarded in a manner that would prevent employees from having any part of their body in the danger zone or inadvertently coming in contact with moving parts during operation.