N.J. Laundry Company Is 'Jeopardizing Employee Safety', OSHA Says

One of the region’s largest commercial laundry companies is facing $305,000 of sanctions and fines for violations of OSHA standards, including the alleged absence of lockout/tagout procedures, unsafe exit routes and electrical hazards.

Headquartered in Lyndhurst, Prestige Industries cleans laundry for different industries at two New Jersey facilities and one in Long Island, New York, according to an OSHA release.

The company’s Paterson location launders fabrics for the hotel industry.

Acting on a complaint, OSHA inspectors visited Prestige Industries’ Paterson location on Wood Street on March 27, allegedly finding several workplace hazards similar to the ones that contributed to the 2011 death of a 24-year-old worker at the company’s Bay Shore, New York facility.

ALLEGED VIOLATIONS

According to OSHA documents, observed violations included:

• “The employer did not ensure that exit routes were arranged so that employees would not have to travel toward a high hazard area. Employees exiting the facility through the exit route in the Southeast comer of the facility must pass by approximately fourteen, 55-gallon barrels of 50 percent sulfuric acid.”
• “The employer did not establish or implement a written respiratory program.”
• “The employer did not provide suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body where employees were exposed to 50 percent sulfuric acid solution. The eyewash and shower were blocked by an empty cardboard barrel and a large laundry bin, preventing employees from quickly accessing the emergency eyewash and shower in the event of an exposure.”
• “An employee travelled into the operating envelope of Milnor Shuttle 2 without locking out the machine prior to entering the operating envelope of the machine to retrieve towels that had fallen from the shuttle during normal operations.”

See the full list of citations here.

“It is unacceptable when a company continues to neglect basic safety and health procedures, especially after experiencing a fatality. Prestige Industries’ deliberate failure to uphold its responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace is an indication that worker safety and health is not a priority, which is intolerable,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.

“Without an effective, comprehensive injury and illness prevention program that evaluates, identifies and eliminates hazards proactively, Prestige’s employees will remain at risk of injury or death,” Kulick stated.

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