NEW BEDFORD, MA – July 15, 2010 – A waterfront seafood processing facility is facing $279,000 in federal fines for alleged workplace hazards.
American Seafoods International LLC, of the brand name American Pride Seafoods fame, faces the fines after a six-month inspection conducted by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration that unearthed 15 alleged "willful and serious violations and standards" at the company's plant at 40 Herman Melville Blvd.
OSHA is proposing the fines mainly for deficiencies in its process safety management program.
Such a program is a detailed set of requirements and procedures employers must follow. The program deals with equipment that contains large amounts of hazardous chemicals. In this case, the chemical is anhydrous ammonia in the plant's refrigeration system.
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