On July 21, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it cited Petco’s North Andover, Massachusetts, pet supply store for routinely exposing employees to live and dead rodents, as well as their droppings and urine.
Agency inspectors also found that the North Andover store exposed employees to electrical hazards by blocking access to electrical panels and identified chemical hazards related to unlabeled containers of cleaning chemicals. The store also lacked adequate facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and skin for employees working with corrosive chemicals.
The agency cited the North Andover Petco location for two repeat and two serious violations, proposing penalties that totaled $129,473.
The agency previously cited Petco’s Corpus Christi, Texas, location for vermin control violations. OSHA cited a Columbus, Ohio, Petco store in 2022 for electrical hazards violations similar to those found at the North Andover store.
“Protecting the safety and health of employees must be a core value for employers, large and small,” Sarah T. Carle, OSHA’s Andover, Massachusetts, area director, said in an agency statement. “After previous citations for similar violations, Petco is well aware of the importance of having effective programs in place to control pests and safeguard against hazards at all of its locations.”
Petco Animal Supplies Inc. operates more than 1,500 Petco stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, providing pet food and supplies and grooming and veterinary services at about 100 locations, according to OSHA.
Boston Dumpling Maker Facing New OSHA Fines
In other OSHA news, the agency announced on July 24 that it has also cited the Chinese Spaghetti Factory Inc. of Boston for safety and health violations and a failure to abate previously cited violations. The employer still hadn’t installed required safety guards on a dumpling machine’s rotating shafts—a hazard for which the company was cited after an employee suffered serious injuries in 2022, according to OSHA.
The agency conducted a follow-up inspection at the facility to verify that the company had corrected unsafe conditions identified in 2022. As a result of the inspection, OSHA proposed an additional $82,500 penalty for failing to correct the hazard.
OSHA’s safety inspection and a concurrent health inspection found several new and recurring hazards, leading the agency to issue citations and propose $108,031 in penalties for the following:
- A willful violation for allowing the dumpling machine’s gears to remain unguarded, as two employees worked in close proximity to the hazard;
- Two repeat violations for exposing employees to the risks of electrical shock and injuries from unguarded electrical components and unguarded operating parts of a forming and filling machine—conditions similar to hazards cited in 2022 and 2019;
- A serious violation for lacking a program or procedures to prevent the unintended activation of various machines, including choppers, forming and filling machines, and grinders, while employees cleaned and maintained them; and
- Three serious violations for an incomplete hearing conservation program for employees exposed to high noise levels, inadequate eyewash facilities for employees working with corrosive cleaners, and an incomplete chemical hazard communication program.
Since 2017, the agency’s inspections have identified 10 serious, repeat, and other-than-serious violations at the Chinese Spaghetti Factory’s Newmarket Street facility.
In total, the company faces $190,541 in proposed fines for new, recurring, and uncorrected hazards.
“The sizable penalties in this case reflect the gravity of this situation and the dangers faced by people employed at the Chinese Spaghetti Factory’s facility,” James Mulligan, OSHA’s Braintree, Massachusetts, area director, said in an agency statement.
ALSO READ: How to Launch an Integrated Pest Management Program