The federal Department of Labor (DOL) found Watertown’s Strauss Feeds failed to protect employees against workplace hazards.
On Sept. 12, the DOL released a statement on 24 violations from Strauss Feeds, W7507 Provimi Rd., Watertown, citing failure to protect employees from unsafe working conditions. The DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found workers were exposed to danger of explosions, fire and respiratory hazards from airborne dust. The investigation came after the agency received multiple complaints of unsafe working conditions in February.
Strauss Feeds produces milk replacers — a nutritional substitute for calves to promote growth at less cost. Inspectors from OSHA found excessive dust hazards, which can contribute to respiratory illnesses, fires and explosions, without any strategy from Strauss Feeds to mitigate dangers.
“Unsafe levels of airborne dust can ignite suddenly, causing explosions and fires that jeopardize the safety of workers. Left unchecked, these same dust hazards can cause workers long-term health issues,” Madison OSHA Area Director Chad Greenwood said in a statement. “Companies that manufacture products that create excessive dust particles must use engineering systems and highly effective respiratory protection programs to protect employees from harm.”
Inspectors also found no respiratory protection program to medically evaluate workers’ safety after exposure. Workers were also subject to hazards while walking, on working surfaces, falls, confined spaces and while operating industrial trucks and forklifts due to combustible dust hazards.
Strauss Feeds has been assessed $161,332 in proposed penalties.
Workers in food plants, like Strauss Feeds, are overwhelmingly immigrants, and especially, Mexican and Central American immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. Due to immigration status, migrant workers are measured to be more adversely impacted by hazardous working conditions.
The effects of excessive dust exposure do not stay in workplaces. Latino children whose families immigrate to the U.S. are known to have a higher chance to develop respiratory illnesses like asthma, according to a study from Harvard’s School of public health.
Exposure to dust for migrant workers has been an issue elsewhere as well. The Tampa Bay Time’s series “Poisoned” found significant health disparities for migrant workers and their families when safety measures for dust exposure are not implemented.
