EG Company Fined by OSHA for Lack of Employee Safety Safeguards

East Greenwich-based Provant, which conducts wellness clinics throughout the country, has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for nine “serious” and one “other-than-serious” violations that exposed employees to possible safety risks.

According to a statement from OSHA, Provant was inspected by OSHA beginning last November after an employee complained that a used needle punctured him when he unpacked a box in the company’s mailroom.

The company ships clean needles to clinics that are then shipped back to the company’s HQ for disposal, OHSA said.

“OSHA inspectors determined that the packages in use did not effectively protect employees from needlesticks as boxes were unpacked,” the release stated. “They also noted that needles could fall out of boxes into a shipping container, which happened at least twice. Boxes lacked required warning labels, and the company did not use an authorized carrier to return the contaminated needles to Provant’s headquarters. The company also lacked an effective program to minimize needlestick injuries. It also failed to train employees about hazards, as required, and did not record injuries properly.”

“This company needlessly exposed its employees to preventable injuries and illnesses that can result from being punctured by contaminated needles and also lacked required safeguards,” said Patrick Griffin, OSHA’s area director for Rhode Island. “Unless Provant Health Solutions updates, changes and improves its handling of needles and other bloodborne pathogen hazards, its employees will remain at risk.”

The inspection has led OSHA to cite Provant for nine serious and one other-than-serious violation of OSHA standards. Proposed fines total $62,000.

Provant Health Solutions has more than 13,000 employees. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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 Providence Area Office at 401-528-4667.