Wholestone Farms Cooperative Inc., a Fremont, Nebraska, farm cooperative, faces $36,873 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines for exposing workers in a palletizing area to ergonomic stressors likely to cause musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, the agency announced October 8.

Investigators found that the company required workers to manually lift boxes weighing up to 99 pounds from the palletizing conveyor onto pallets at floor level and stack them up to nine boxes high. According to the agency, the frequency and duration of lifts, weights lifted, motions repeated, forced exertions, and irregular postures exposed employees to the risk of injuries.

OSHA cited Wholestone with a serious violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s General Duty Clause (Section (5)(a)(1)). There’s no federal ergonomics standard, and a standard promulgated near the end of the Clinton administration was rescinded by Congress in 2001.

Overexertion (carrying, holding, lifting, pulling, pushing, or throwing objects) is the top cause of workers’ compensation claims, according to Liberty Mutual’s Workplace Safety Index, released in June. Claims resulting from lifting heavy loads cost U.S. employers $12.49 billion a year, according to Liberty Mutual. Awkward postures, such as twisting, cost employers $3.68 billion.

OSHA also cited Wholestone for slip and fall hazards and walking-working surface violations.

“Musculoskeletal injuries are among the most frequent causes of lost or restricted work time and a known hazard in the meatpacking industry,” Matthew Thurlby, OSHA’s Omaha, Nebraska, area office director, said in an agency statement. “Such injuries occur when lifting heavy items, bending, working in awkward body postures, and performing the same or similar tasks repetitively.”

Florida boat manufacturer cited in follow-up inspection

OSHA cited Blacktip Boatworks LLC, a Pinellas Park, Florida, boat manufacturer, with three repeat and serious violations, two serious violations, and one other-than-serious violation, the agency announced October 3.

The agency cited Blacktip Boatworks in July 2023 with 15 safety and health violations. Inspectors returned when the employer failed to submit the required proof of hazard abatement. OSHA cited Blacktip Boatworks with four failure-to-abate violations and proposed $33,187 in new fines. Blacktip Boatworks now faces a total of $328,287 in penalties.

During the March 2024 inspection, investigators discovered that the company hadn’t corrected hazardous conditions, such as failing to institute a workplace respiratory protection program and procedures for workers required to wear tight-fitting respirators, as well as failing to develop and maintain a written hazard communication program and safety data sheets for workers handling hazardous chemicals.

Violations cited included the following:

• Failing to provide training for workers voluntarily using respirators,
• Failing to provide medical evaluations and fit testing to workers required to wear tight-fitting respirators,
• Failing to conduct periodic inspections of equipment used to lift boats and remove damaged equipment from service, and
• Failing to electrically interconnect containers used to transfer flammable liquids.

“Our follow-up inspection found Blacktip Boatworks continuing to expose its employees to potentially disabling and deadly injuries,” Danelle Jindra, OSHA’s Tampa, Florida, area office director, said in a statement. “The citations we issue are not recommendations. They are violations of federal law that must be addressed immediately.”