Commission Issues Decision in Home Rubber Company, LP, OSHRC Docket No. 17-0138
Home Rubber Company, LP is a small manufacturer of specialty industrial rubber products located in Trenton, New Jersey. In May 2016, a Home Rubber employee was injured while operating a mill. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an inspection of the company’s facility and issued Home Rubber three citations alleging violations of various housekeeping, noise, electrical, forklift, machine guarding, lockout-tagout (LOTO), bloodborne pathogen, hazard communication, and injury reporting requirements. Following a hearing, Administrative Law Judge Carol A. Baumerich affirmed all three citations as issued and assessed the proposed $180,592 penalty. At issue on review is the characterization of Willful Citation 2, Items 1(a)-(b), and the merits and characterization of Serious Citation 1, Items 5, 9, 13, 15(a)-(d), and 18. For the reasons discussed below, we recharacterize Willful Citation 2, Items 1(a)-(b) as serious; affirm Serious Citation 1, Items 5, 9, 15(a)-(d), and 18; and vacate Serious Citation 1, Item 13.