GRIMES CO. FEED BUSINESS CITED BY OSHA
A Grimes County business is in trouble with the federal government.
According to KBTX TV-3, the U.S. Department of Labor is taking action against Thomas Moore Feed for what it calls 'serious' violations of employee safety.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company near Navasota for eight serious violations and two repeat violations.
The same agency cited the animal feed manufacturer for similar violations in February 2015.
KBTX reports that OSHA inspectors found the company failed repeatedly to guard machinery and protect employees against fall and grain dust hazards.
The citations were issued on December 20th and proposed penalties total nearly $92,000.
OSHA's area director Joann Figueroa says the Grimes County company, “cannot continue to expose workers to such serious hazards as unguarded machines and combustible grain dust.”
Figueroa says such negligence, “…can lead to serious injuries or worse."
Matt Moore, the owner of the facility, said the allegations from OSHA are—in his words, "completely false and overblown.”
Moore says he and other company officials will be meeting with OSHA officials on January 12th at their office in Conroe to contest the citations.
Thomas Moore Feed specializes in manufacturing animal feed and employs approximately 47 people.
Thomas Moore Feeds is a small business that provides feeds at a far more reasonable cost than any other outlet in the area. They have a growing business. The competition and their political connections are behind this assault thru government agencies. Period. Politics and big business, corporate, cuththroat, one and the same. Word of warning to anyone that wants to challenge established corporate businesses, be prepared to grease some palms so your costs of doing business will be similar to theirs.
A $92,000 thousand dollar fine, makes me wander how that makes workers safer. How about making the company implement training on fall prevention, feed dust and grain dust hazards, air quality monitoring, and other things that actually protect the workers, but wait, is it really about safety or is it about the fines the government can collect. I am so tired of predatory government, these practices range from petty stuff like speed traps and city revenue court, to large money grabs like the ones mentioned above. You will know they are serious when they become more concerned about worker safety and less concerned about revenue generation.
The article states “the same agency cited the animal feed manufacturer for similar violations in February 2015. KBTX reports that OSHA inspectors found the company failed repeatedly to guard machinery and protect employees against fall and grain dust hazards.”
The company had their chance to make improvements and correct the issues and they failed to, so they are now facing a big fine. The company should have corrected the issues in 2015.
THE WORLD’S TWO BIGGEST LIES:
1. OSHA Official, “I’m here to help you”.
2. Plant Manager, “I’m glad to see you”.