8 Serious Health, Safety Violations Cited Against Westfield Business

WESTFIELD, NJ — Mavis Discount Tires in Westfield was cited for serious health and safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Mavis, located at 343 South Ave. East in Westfield, at may also have to pay $103,331 in penalties for one repeat and seven serious and health and safety violations.

The investigation was started after an employee alleged that Mavis Tire was exposing workers to safety and health hazards related to water leaking into the workplace’s basement.

A health and safety inspection was completed on March 30 where OSHA inspectors issued a repeat citation for obstructed exit routes, a violation for which the agency cited Mavis previously in May 2015.

OSHA also identified serious violations, and cited for:

• Lack of exit signs.
• Failure to properly store compressed gas cylinders.
• Not providing guardrails on an open-sided platform 9 feet above ground level.
• Failure to train workers on chemical safety hazards, and to provide Safety Data Sheets when requested.

“The hazards cited at Mavis Tire’s Westfield location pose serious safety and health dangers to employees. Improperly stored gas cylinders can leak or explode, unmarked exits can lead to disaster during an emergency and missing guardrails on raised platforms creates the potential for dangerous falls,” said Patricia Jones, director of OSHA’s Avenel Area Office. “This employer needs to address these issues and the other OSHA violations our inspectors found before someone is hurt or killed.”

Mavis Tires has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The citations can be viewed at: https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/MavisTireSupplyInc_1135880.pdf

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency’s Avenel Office at 732-750-3270.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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