OSHA seeks $46,900 in penalties<br> from seafood processor

BRAINTREE, Mass. – The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited New Bedford seafood processor Carlos Seafood Inc., saying it failed to protect employees against carbon monoxide and confined-space hazards.
The action, which involves 11 “serious” citations carrying $46,900 in proposed penalties, follows an OSHA inspection prompted by the November 2006 death of an employee who was fatally overcome by carbon monoxide fumes while using a gasoline-powered pressure washer to clean the inside of a water tank in a fishing boat at Leonard’s Wharf in New Bedford.
OSHA said it found that the deceased worker and two other employees had been exposed to excess levels of carbon monoxide while working in the tank, and that the company had failed to implement controls to reduce those exposure levels.
The company also lacked procedures and equipment for employees to work safely in confined spaces, did not train employees on working in confined spaces, and did not identify and post danger signs for the tank and other confined spaces in the workplace, OSHA said.