OSHA cites Grandview company for putting workers at COVID-19 risk after one dies
The nation’s workplace safety regulator has accused a Grandview manufacturing company of failing to protect employees from catching the coronavirus until after one of the workers at Peterson Manufacturing died from COVID-19.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that the company, before the employee’s death, required employees to work in close proximity to each other and did not insist that they wear masks.
At least six other businesses in Missouri have been cited for workplace safety violations related to the coronavirus since the onset of the pandemic, according to OSHA records: three St. Louis-area nursing homes and three food production plants, in Independence, Carthage and Marshall.
Peterson was the only one, however, whose alleged safety violations were directly linked to the death of an employee, The Star’s analysis of OSHA records shows. The other cases concerned either improper record keeping or a failure to provide employees with adequate personal protective equipment in the first months of the pandemic.
As of Jan. 14, when the list was last updated on the agency’s website, OSHA had cited no Kansas businesses for coronavirus-related safety violations.
The safety agency said Peterson, doing business as Maxi-Seal Harness Systems, was cited for its alleged failure to keep the workplace free “from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.”
That is what OSHA classifies as a “serious” violation of federal safety regulations. Except for repeat and willful offenders, where the fines can be in the six figures, OSHA penalties are relatively low. At the top of the scale, serious violations carry a maximum penalty of $13,653 on each count. That is what the agency is asking for in this case.
The company was also cited for an other-than-serious violation for not recording on an OSHA form that a worker had tested positive for COVID-19. It, too, carries the same maximum as serious violations, but OSHA is only asking for $1,951.
Maxi-Seal makes wiring harnesses for trailers and trucks. According to the complaint, on Aug. 18 two of the company’s employees were working on a multi-operator press and were no more than two feet apart, even though social distancing guidelines set six feet as a minimum even when people are wearing masks.
Neither worker wore a face covering and the company did not require it, OSHA said.
A week later, both press operators tested positive for COVID-19. One died from the disease on Sept. 19. OSHA said it found that “with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the deceased employee contracted the virus while on the job.”
The worker was not named in the report and The Star was unable to immediately ascertain that person’s identity in order to seek comment from relatives.
In early September, two other employees tested positive after working in close proximity without wearing masks. In all, at least six workers were infected, OSHA said in a news release announcing the citations.
“Maxi-Seal Harness Systems failed to fully implement and enforce the use of feasible controls for employees to prevent the spread of coronavirus,” OSHA’s Kansas City-based area director Karena Lorek said in a written statement. “We found that the company failed to implement use of face masks and social distancing properly throughout the workplace until after the death of an employee.”
Peterson has 15 days from the date it received notice of the citations, which were dated Feb. 16, to contest the allegations. Company managers did not respond to The Star’s requests for comment.
Nationwide, OSHA has levied more than $4 million in penalties against employers for coronavirus safety violations, records show.
The only other company in the Kansas City area cited was the Unilever plant in Independence, which makes salad dressing and other food products. In October, OSHA proposed a $1,928 penalty for an other-than-serious violation, according to the records. The company was cited for violating a standard that requires employers to document work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses.
Also cited for an other-than-serious violation was the Butterball turkey processing plant in Carthage, on Dec. 22, for allegedly violating a standard that requires companies to report a work-related death within eight hours. The incident occurred in July. The proposed fine was $9,639.
Conagra Brands Inc. in Marshall shut down its frozen meals plant temporarily in April after 20 employees came down with COVID-19. In October, OSHA assessed a $2,121 fine for a record-keeping violation. The company is contesting the citation, records show.
Nursing homes cited for serious violations were the Mary Queen and Mother Center and the Grand Manor Nursing and Rehab Center, both in St. Louis; and Lutheran Senior Services in Ballwin. All were accused of failing to providing workers with adequate masks and testing.
