Region 1 News Release: BOS 2002-121
June 3, 2002
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: (617) 565-2074

Inadequate Safeguards Against Hearing Loss Lead to
Nearly $90,000 in Fines for Franklin, Mass., Employer

BOSTON -- A Franklin, Mass., employer's failure to adequately protect workers against the hazards of occupational noise exposure has resulted in $89,750 in proposed fines.

J & J Corrugated Box Corp. has been cited by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for alleged willful, serious and other violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act at its 210 Grove St. manufacturing plant.

"OSHA's hearing conservation standard requires employers to take effective steps to protect the hearing of workers who are exposed to high noise levels," said Brenda Gordon, OSHA area director for Southeastern Massachusetts. "These include annual audiograms for exposed workers, notifying those employees if testing reveals a deterioration in hearing ability and referring them for appropriate medical evaluation, if needed. These safeguards were not provided for all exposed workers at this plant."

The largest fine, $63,000, is proposed for an alleged willful violation for failing to refer workers for required medical evaluations. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.

Fines of $24,750 are proposed for five alleged serious violations. Four citations deal with the employer's failure to maintain and monitor all elements of the hearing conservation program, not providing annual audiograms to all affected employees, not notifying all affected employees of test results in a timely manner and not posting the hearing conservation standard. The fifth citation is for failure to ensure the use of lockout/tagout procedures when workers entered a strapping machine to perform maintenance. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard.

An additional $2,000 in fines is proposed for two alleged other than serious violations for an incomplete illness and injury log and failing to record employees' hearing losses in a timely manner. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to either elect to comply with them, to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Braintree, Mass., area office. The telephone number is (617) 565-6924.