The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Tuesday announced that it has cited Grandview, Missouri’s Peterson Manufacturing Co., operating as Maxi-Seal Harness Systems Inc., under the general duty clause for failing to maintain safe working conditions after at least six employees of the plant tested positive for COVID-19 and one died as a result.
The company faces one serious citation and one other-than-serious violation, and proposed penalties totaling $15,604, according to OSHA.
As part of the investigation, OSHA’s Office of Occupational Medicine and Nursing “determined, with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the deceased employee contracted the virus while on the job,” per a statement from OSHA, which added that the lack of face masks and social distancing were at play.
Don Armacost, president and CEO of Peterson Manufacturing, on Wednesday said the company plans to contest the citation.
More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has fined several meat processors and temporary employment agencies more than $265,000 for failing to protect workers from COVID-19, the agency said in a statement Wednesday.