OSHA fines Georgia Gulf $55,000

BATON ROUGE, LA. (Updated Jan. 13, 10:40 a.m. ET) -- PVC maker Georgia Gulf Corp. has been fined $55,000 by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration for alleged safety and health violations at its plant in Plaquemine, La.

OSHA cited the Plaquemine site for 14 serious violations for exposing workers to multiple safety and health hazards.

“An employer’s greatest resource is its workers, and exposing them to preventable injuries and illnesses will not be tolerated,” OSHA’s Dorinda Folse said in a Jan. 12 news release. Folse is director of OSHA’s office in Baton Rouge, La.

Violations listed by OSHA include failure to illuminate exit routes and failure to train workers performing preventive maintenance on safety critical instruments.

A spokesman with Atlanta-based Georgia Gulf said that his firm had seen the citation and will review it before deciding to take action.

“If after reviewing it, we decide that we want to contest it, we will,” he added. “We take everything OSHA says very seriously. We’re proud of our safety record and of the work environment we have for our employees.”

The Plaqumeine site employs about 600 and produces PVC and related products including chlorine, caustic soda and vinyl chloride monomer.