NEW YORK — A judge has issued a ruling upholding all citations and penalties—totaling $186,000—against UniFirst Corp. for alleged worker hazards at its West Caldwell, N.J., location, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Following a 2011 inspection spanning approximately six months, OSHA cited UniFirst for alleged violations related to bloodborne pathogens, lead exposure and improper training on precautions related to those dangers, among other violations.
UniFirst contested the 2012 citations in a five-day hearing in 2013. Administrative Law Judge Carol Baumerich from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission issued a ruling on Sept. 30 that affirmed all the citations originally issued by OSHA.
OSHA says UniFirst’s West Caldwell facility violated the administration’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard by allowing workers to pick up and sort lab coats and other laundry items potentially contaminated with blood without personal protective equipment. UniFirst serviced several facilities where blood was routinely drawn from patients. OSHA says workers could have also been exposed to contaminated needles and syringes that had been disposed of improperly and mixed in with the laundry.
“The Bloodborne standard applies when there is reasonably anticipated contact with blood or [other potentially infectious materials], including the potential for contact as well as actual contact,” Baumerich says in the ruling, adding that “the evidence establishes that it could be reasonably anticipated that [UniFirst’s] employees would have contact with blood or otherwise potentially infectious materials.”
Baumerich also says management falsified training sign-in sheets and required employees to sign the sheets even when they hadn’t received training. She found that employees did not receive training on the hazards of lead exposure until after the start of the OSHA inspection. By that time, drivers and dockworkers might have already been exposed to airborne lead, and lead was found on work surfaces at the facility, including in a truck and near laundry sort 65/35 bins, according to the ruling.
“This actual and potential exposure obligated [UniFirst] to provide training on the hazards of lead and lead exposure to the exposed employees,” Baumerich states in the ruling.
Additionally, she says, many of the company’s employees were not given the option to receive or decline the Hepatitis B vaccine in a timely fashion, if at all. Non-compliance with OSHA standards for the use of biohazard bags was also cited.
In a comment to American Laundry News, UniFirst says that “safety is, and has always been, a top priority” at the company, and that “the allegations regarding the New Jersey branch are not indicative of UniFirst’s operations as a whole.”
“While we are both in disagreement and disappointed with the Sept. 30, 2014, decision by Judge Baumerich upholding OSHA citations issued against UniFirst for alleged infractions at our New Jersey branch, we fully intend to comply with its requirements and will not be filing any further appeals,” UniFirst says.
It adds that the judge’s decision “did not reflect important details provided by UniFirst” that would have provided a clearer understanding of the events at the facility.
“Unfortunately, a single branch location may have fallen short of our high standards in a few respects,” the company says. “We have been directing a great deal of time and attention since the original incident, nearly three years ago, to ensuring that every location has a clear understanding of its responsibilities as it relates to our company’s ongoing commitment to employee safety.”
UniFirst says it is reviewing communication practices at all of its facilities.
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