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OSHA Cites New Era for Safety Violations at Derby Plant
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, after investigating complaints filed by CWA, has issued a “serious” citation against the New Era Cap Co. in Derby, N.Y., where workers have been on strike since July 16 over wages and health issues.
The citation charges that New Era failed to put legally required procedures in place to deal with workers’ possible exposure to blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and Hepatitis B.
“This is a major victory,” said Dave LeGrande, CWA’s safety and health director. “The citation forces the employer to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent members from being exposed to blood-borne pathogens and to test workers to make sure they have not been exposed to potentially life-threatening infections. Along with earlier citations against the company, it magnifies workplace hazards identified in independent investigations and allows us to demonstrate a serious lack of concern on the part of New Era.”
The company claims to have made changes at the Derby plant to comply with citations issued in August, charging that it failed to provide guarding to protect operators of embroidery machines, failed to record lost-day, repetitive motion disorders on its personal injury log, and failed to label a container with identity of hazardous chemicals and appropriate hazard warnings, LeGrande said.
The latest citation, issued Sept. 6 by OSHA’s Buffalo, N.Y., office, charges the company with two separate instances of having workers in its embroidery and “A” team departments exposed to “blood or other potentially infectious material as a result of contact with surfaces contaminated with blood after another employee was injured” and for failure to have a written procedure for dealing with exposure.
All of the citations parallel descriptions of problems found at the plant by a team of investigators from the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent monitoring service that ensures vendor companies comply with university codes of conduct. New Era manufactures official caps for Major League Baseball, other national sports licensing organizations, and hundreds of high school and collegiate athletic teams.
OSHA also labeled as “serious” its August citation that “machine guarding was not provided to protect embroidery operators from the hazard created by the rotating bobbin casing while employees replace bobbins.”
WRC investigators found numerous instances of workers “sewing their fingers,” and cited OSHA logs from 1995-2000 documenting 75 such injuries. “A significant number of these” drew blood, they said.
The citation charges that New Era failed to put legally required procedures in place to deal with workers’ possible exposure to blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and Hepatitis B.
“This is a major victory,” said Dave LeGrande, CWA’s safety and health director. “The citation forces the employer to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent members from being exposed to blood-borne pathogens and to test workers to make sure they have not been exposed to potentially life-threatening infections. Along with earlier citations against the company, it magnifies workplace hazards identified in independent investigations and allows us to demonstrate a serious lack of concern on the part of New Era.”
The company claims to have made changes at the Derby plant to comply with citations issued in August, charging that it failed to provide guarding to protect operators of embroidery machines, failed to record lost-day, repetitive motion disorders on its personal injury log, and failed to label a container with identity of hazardous chemicals and appropriate hazard warnings, LeGrande said.
The latest citation, issued Sept. 6 by OSHA’s Buffalo, N.Y., office, charges the company with two separate instances of having workers in its embroidery and “A” team departments exposed to “blood or other potentially infectious material as a result of contact with surfaces contaminated with blood after another employee was injured” and for failure to have a written procedure for dealing with exposure.
All of the citations parallel descriptions of problems found at the plant by a team of investigators from the Worker Rights Consortium, an independent monitoring service that ensures vendor companies comply with university codes of conduct. New Era manufactures official caps for Major League Baseball, other national sports licensing organizations, and hundreds of high school and collegiate athletic teams.
OSHA also labeled as “serious” its August citation that “machine guarding was not provided to protect embroidery operators from the hazard created by the rotating bobbin casing while employees replace bobbins.”
WRC investigators found numerous instances of workers “sewing their fingers,” and cited OSHA logs from 1995-2000 documenting 75 such injuries. “A significant number of these” drew blood, they said.