Worker Death at Cintas Highlights Need for Better Oversight by OSHA of Multiple-Facility Companies, Witnesses Tell House Labor Subcommittee 

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- Witnesses told the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s inadequate enforcement and oversight of workplace safety and health conditions within large, multiple-facility corporations is unnecessarily endangering workers.

The hearing explored events at the Cintas Corporation, the largest uniform supplier in North America. In 2007, Eleazar Torres-Gomez died at the company’s Tulsa facility after he stepped onto a conveyor to remove a jam of wet uniforms and was pulled by a robotic arm into a 300 degree industrial dryer. After the death, an investigation revealed that Cintas had known for years that similar problems existed at other facilities, but did little to address the issue companywide.

“This hazard had been well known within Cintas for many years. Documents uncovered found that Cintas alerted facilities about a close-call that was virtually identical to the one that killed Torres-Gomez,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the subcommittee. “At the time, Cintas promised to take actions to prevent another incident from happening. None of these promises were acted upon at the Tulsa facility. We think that OSHA can do better and that corporate America can do better.”

The death of Torres-Gomez resulted in a $2.7 million OSHA penalty, the largest service sector fine in OSHA’s history and was followed by additional citations of similar problems at other Cintas facilities. Cintas initially blamed Torres-Gomez for violating company policy.

“The fact that Cintas blamed my father for what truly is a company wide problem is wrong,” said Emmanuel Torres, son of Torres-Gomez. “More important, Cintas knew about the danger and should have fixed the machines so they could not turn on while workers like my father were on them. I feel that my father’s death was preventable and Cintas failed to do everything in their power to protect him.”

After several high profile worker deaths, OSHA began a national program in 2003 to hold companies accountable that operate multiple facilities that violate health and safety standards. The Enhanced Enforcement Policy program allows OSHA to schedule additional inspections at other facilities of companies to see if a pattern of noncompliance exists. However, witnesses said that Enhanced Enforcement Policy program is largely ineffective.

“OSHA’s EEP is another example of an enforcement program with great potential that has never achieved its promise,” said Randy Rabinowitz, a health and safety expert and former attorney for OSHA. “The EEP program has failed to protect workers at indifferent, large employers from highly-dangerous hazards.”

Frank White, senior vice president and head of ORC Worldwide’s health, safety, and environmental practice, said that additional efforts are needed by both industry and OSHA to ensure that standards are complied with companywide.

“Unfortunately, we know from our experience that even companies that work diligently to comply with OSHA standards will not necessarily have an effective process for assuring that findings of non-compliance in one facility will be made know across the organization and addressed at other facilities,” said White.

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