The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced it has cited a solid waste removal trucking company for five safety and health violations following an inspection at the company's Mableton, Georgia, facility.

The agency initiated the inspection of Stafford Transport Inc. in July 2014 as part of the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs OSHA enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average rates of injuries and illnesses.

Proposed penalties total $43,000.

Two repeat violations, making up $40,000 in penalties, were cited for not providing the Hepatitis B vaccine to employees who could potentially be exposed to bloodborne pathogens and for allowing workers to perform maintenance on landfill tippers, loaders and excavators without conducting annual inspections of the written procedures to protect workers from moving machine parts during servicing work.

A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation within the last five years, according to OSHA. The company received citations for these same violations in 2012.

OSHA cited the employer for one serious violation for failure to train workers to operate a forklift. The citation carries a penalty of $3,000. Other violations include failing to conduct an annual review of the written bloodborne pathogens program and not training employees on the new labeling requirements. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known, according to the agency.

OSHA last inspected Stafford Transport in 2011. The company was issued serious citations then for failure to conduct an annual inspection of procedures to protect workers from moving machine parts during service or maintenance and to protect workers from bloodborne pathogen hazards.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission.

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