The U. S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a Swainsboro manufacturing operation with repeated safety violations that led to four employees being seriously hurt.

According to a press release from OSHA Region 4 last week, since a 2020 inspection, four company workers at Place Vendome Holding Co., Inc, suffered from injuries after the company failed to address safety-related issues.

In December 2020, a 22-year-old machine operator suffered an amputation, and an OSHA inspection found no lockout-tagout procedures; in February 2021, a machine operator had a finger amputated and nine crushed toes. OSHA found the machine’s energy control locks had been removed; Then in March 2021, a maintenance manager loading a pallet jack onto a truck suffered an amputation when a finger was caught between the wheels of the jack; and in April of this year, another maintenance manager suffered a lacerated hand while attempting to clean fibers out of a motor.

Following an inspection of the facility in November 2021, OSHA cited the company with seven repeat and serious violations for obstructing exit routes, failing to post well-lit signs identifying exit routes, and stacking materials in unstable or unsecure tiers along with other serious violations of employees’ safety including locking an emergency exit door from the outside, and failing to mount or keep fire extinguishers accessible and train workers designated to use those extinguishers.

OSHA has proposed penalties in the amount of $190,758. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to reply or make requests for a review.

Place Vendome Holding in Swainsboro was a recipient of the Paycheck Protection Program in January 2021 of $356,900 and reported itself as a female owned business employing at least 150 people during the applicable loan period.