Letter: To Assistant Secretary Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Letter: To Assistant Secretary Edwin G. Foulke, Jr., Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Dear Assistant Secretary Foulke,
In response to Tuesday's tragic events in Tulsa, OK, we are writing to request information and to request that you launch a nationwide investigation of machinery safety hazards at the industrial laundries owned by the Cintas Corp., the nation's largest uniform service.
As you know, Mr. Eleazar Torres-Gomez, a 46-year old Cintas washroom employee, died in an accident at Cintas' Tulsa, Oklahoma, plant when, according to press reports, he was caught by a large robotic conveyor used to transfer uniforms from washers to dryers, and died inside the dryer as it operated for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. This is not the first time there were safety issues with such machinery.
Sadly, it would appear that this death could have been prevented. OSHA's Directorate of Compliance issued a special interpretation letter in on July 7, 2005, alerting employers, workers and inspectors about the need for special protection from robotic laundry shuttle equipment like that reportedly used at the Tulsa plant.
We understand that, within a month, on August 8, 2005, at the request of Cintas employees concerned about this hazard, OSHA inspectors investigated the company's Central Islip, NY, facility, and then cited the company for the very violations which the bulletin addressed. We further understand that Cintas challenged OSHA's decision, and did not agree to fix the violation until the following May, when Cintas agreed to install commercially-available guarding technology. It would appear, however, that Cintas failed to address the same deadly hazard in its Tulsa plant.
For these reasons, we request information about what measures OSHA has in place to ensure that serious health and safety problems identified at one facility of a large company are not repeated in the company's other facilities. In particular, what measures did OSHA take following the August 2005 investigation of the Central Islip plant to determine whether similar machinery with similar hazards was being used by Cintas at other plants around the country? What measures did OSHA take to eliminate any such hazards at other plants? Given the tragedy in Tulsa, what measures is OSHA taking now to address what may be a nationwide problem with this employer or with this industry? We would also like to know what measures OSHA is taking to ensure that state plan states also address corporate-wide health and safety problems that may be present in facilities in their jurisdiction.
We furthermore request that you undertake an immediate investigation of all Cintas laundries - both in federal jurisdiction and in those covered by state plans -- to determine whether they have the same equipment, and if so, to follow imminent danger proceedings in all cases where the guarding technology fails to comply with the interpretation in OSHA's July 7, 2005 notice, including notices to all exposed employees and their representatives. If Cintas refuses to adopt the appropriate technology immediately and otherwise provide such protection, we urge you to consider obtaining the necessary judicial relief pursuant to Sect. 13 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Finally, we have received reports that Cintas was previously notified about reported hazards in the Tulsa plant which are apparently related to the death of Mr. Torres-Gomez. Especially if that is the case, we request that the Tulsa investigation be conducted in conformance with OSHA's procedures for potential criminal prosecutions.
We look forward to your prompt response to this inquiry.
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