The company is based in Auburn, Maine. Its Sidney plant produces motor vehicle interior trimmings for automotive manufacturers, including Toyota and General Motors. OSHA issued one failure to abate, nine willful and four repeat safety violations for continuously exposing employees to amputations and other hazards.
“Formed Fiber Technologies apparently decided that production was more important than ensuring its workers’ safety. They provided false abatement documentation to OSHA. They knew how hazardous these machines were without proper safeguards and also knew exactly how to fix those hazards,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of Labor for OSHA. “OSHA will not tolerate such blatant disregard for worker safety.”
OSHA’s January follow-up inspection found that abatement documentation Formed Fiber provided the agency in December 2013 was false and that employees had been exposed to unguarded machines and unsafe maintenance procedures well after the employer’s abatement claims.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent OSHA Review Commission.
Company officials could not be reached Wednesday for comment.