OSHA says Allen Harim fails to properly report injuries

While Allen Harim Foods appeals safety violations – and fines – the company’s Harbeson poultry processing plant received in June, federal inspectors want the most serious violations remedied now.

Those violations allege the Seaford-based poultry processor is sending workers to a First Aid station staffed by three emergency medical technicians who are not licensed in Delaware and overseen by a administrator with no medical training.

Dr. Aaron Green, a Millsboro physician who signs off on Allen Harim Foods’ medical directives, also has no formal contract with the company and does not review its medical logs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Those allegations are detailed in a five-page “hazard alert” letter OSHA sent to officials at Allen Harim Foods last month in which the federal agency contends the company is using the First Aid station to avoid properly reporting worker injuries, particularly those caused by repetitive movement.

“The medical management practices at this facility create an environment of fear and distrust,” Erin G. Patterson, director of OSHA’s Wilmington Area Office, said in a statement.

“The use of the first aid station to prevent injuries from being reported as required by law undermines the purpose of on-site treatment and leaves employees at risk of further injury,” she said. “Discouraging workers from reporting injuries is unacceptable.”

Allen Harim released a statement Thursday pointing out that the hazard alert letter are not citations, “but are simply letters containing allegations, which our staff is currently reviewing.”

“We have no comment regarding the allegations in the hazard alert letters at this time,” the company said in statement. “In the meantime, Allen Harim will continue to cooperate with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in connection with its investigation and will take whatever steps necessary and appropriate to defend against these unwarranted allegations.”

A spokesman for the United Food and Commerical Works International Local 27, which represents workers at the Harbeson plant was not immediately available.

The hazard alert letter, released by OSHA this week, was sent to Allen Harim after inspectors cited the company for nine safety violations at the Harbeson plant in June.

At that time, OSHA recommended levying $38,000 in fines against Allen Harim.

The company is appealing those citations to the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission, an independent federal agency that reviews contested OSHA findings. A hearing before the commission will be held March 22, 2016.

“This hazard alert letter was done as an extra measure to ensure the company pinpoints this particular issue and makes changes,” OSHA spokeswoman Leni Fortson said.

Allen Harim officials said they were “disappointed” to have received the OSHA citations and “strongly disagree with the factual and legal claims set forth in those citations.”

OSHA says the purpose of the First Aid station in Allen Harim’s Harbeson plant should be to provide care for acute injuries. The agency claims the company has expanded that role to include the evaluation and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis, caused by repetitive movements.

Further, OSHA claims Allen Harim’s Harbeson plant is using the First Aid station’s “deficiencies” to prevent MSDs from appearing on medical logs and contributing to workers developing those injuries.

OSHA findings are based on interviews with workers, EMTs and a review of Allen Harim’s medical records for 206 workers. More than half of those workers were seen by EMTs for MSD injuries.

Yet Allen Harim workers reportedly indicated to federal inspectors that they are worried they would be fired if they go to the First Aid station too often.

“A number of workers appeared to have been terminated by Allen Harim within weeks to months after suffering an MSD,” the OSHA letter states.

Some who asked to be seen by a doctor reportedly did not receive referrals promptly or at all. OSHA claims only 15 percent of musculoskeletal disorder cases reviewed were referred to a doctor. Nearly 60 percent of workers reporting those injuries were put on work restrictions, although it is unclear whether those restrictions successfully resolved the injury.

Seven workers referred themselves to a doctor, OSHA found. Six were later fired and three had a “no-rehire” comment added to their medical record.

Many workers at the poultry processing plants do not speak English. Yet the three EMTs who work at the First Aid station do not speak Spanish or Creole and often ask other workers to translate for them, breaching confidentiality standards, OSHA found.

The EMTs also frequently use the term “alleged” in describing a worker’s statement about a symptom or injury, which OSHA claims indicates skepticism regarding worker complaints.

“Desite Allen Harim’s [sic] Foods, LLC policy to treat each employee with respect, as noted in the Medical Directives, workers are treated with distrust rather than respect,” the hazard alert letter states. “Symptoms are doubted.”

Roughly 960 employees work in the Harbeson facility, although it is not known how many workers have suffered musculoskeletal injuries.

Musculoskeletal issues are common in the poultry and meat processing industries, Patterson said. She noted OSHA has published a list of best practices to avoid hazardous conditions at such plants.

An OSHA report on the violations detailed ways Allen Harim can reduce worker injuries, including monitoring employee worksites, training workers to recognize signs of injury and managing issues as they arise.

OSHA also recommended Allen Harim contract with a medical physician to re-evaluate the company’s medical program and provide ongoing oversite. The company also should conduct an ergonomic assessment by a certified professional ergonomist or industrial engineer, the agency recommended.

Other citations OSHA issued to Allen Harim in June allege the company did not provide employees with bathroom breaks, failed to properly illuminate three emergency exits and provided inadequate documentation related to equipment inspections, employee training and injury records.

The safety violations recorded by OSHA did not prevent the state Water Infrastructure Advisory Council and DNREC Secretary David Small from approving a pair of 15-year, low-interest loans worth a combined $11.5 million last month.

Those loans are intended to help Allen Harim finance wastewater treatment plant upgrades at the Harbeson plant that will allow the company to increase its production capacity at the facility from 175,000 chickens per day to nearly 400,000.

Contact Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.