Federal workplace safety regulators this week issued 12 citations to a New York sauces company and proposed nearly $80,000 in fines after a worker was seriously injured in September while cleaning a vinegar tank.
The employee of the Rob Salamida Co. reportedly climbed a ladder in the 3,000-gallon tank in September and fell after he was overcome by acetic acid vapors. He was hospitalized for five days.
An inspection of the Johnson City plant by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that the company did not identify hazardous confined spaces and failed to provide proper training and equipment to workers.
OSHA investigators also found additional safety violations related to equipment and to caustic chemicals.
“This incident, and the resulting severe injuries to this worker, should never have happened,” said Christopher Adams, OSHA’s Syracuse area director. “Workers who enter confined spaces risk being overcome, sometimes fatally, by toxic and oxygen-deficient atmospheres."
The company, which most notably makes marinades for a Binghamton-area sandwich called a spiedie, said that the worker was not following standard procedures and vowed to contest the findings.
"We don't take any of this lightly; we respect the role OSHA plays," owner Rob Salamida told the Press & Sun-Bulletin. "In this case, we have to contest some of the facts as we know them."
