OSHA investigating Table Talk Pies over workplace safety concerns
Photo | Zachary Comeau
Table Talk Pies' cold storage facility on Armory Street
Table Talk Pies is being investigated by federal officials for workplace safety concerns at facilities in Worcester and Shrewsbury following a series of instances in which the company has already been fined.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened within the past month two investigations into incidents at Table Talk. One was opened on Nov. 3 at Table Talk's Shrewsbury facility, and another about a week prior at Table Talk's Southgate Street location in Worcester.
In both cases, inspection reports — the only publicly available information while investigations are ongoing — include potential amputation incidents. OSHA declined to comment on the investigations or give any additional detail about the incidents.
Table Talk has already been fined repeatedly in the past three years for safety violations, totaling more than $400,000.
The company was fined $40,428 for what OSHA describes as serious violations this year after an investigation opened in June and issued in late October. In that case, six violations were recorded for an incident in which a worker was apparently exposed to a corrosive manufactured substance called sodium hydroxide, which is commonly used in commercial drain and oven cleaners, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
"The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to additional bodily harm or potential permanent disabling injuries that could result from the employer's not notifying emergency medical services," OSHA's violation notice said.
Table Talk is one of three Central Massachusetts firms and one of 20 statewide fined this year at least $40,000, considered high fines by OSHA. CPF Inc., a manufacturer in Ayer, was fined roughly $54,000 in May for what was only described as a serious safety incident. New England Wooden Ware Corp. in Gardner was fined more than $40,000 in June for undisclosed serious and repeat incidents.
In previous incidents, Table Talk was fined $33,300 in February 2016 for what was described only as a serious incident, $122,948 in March 2017 for what was described briefly as serious forklift and electrical shock incidents, $69,713 in November 2017 for a serious incident, $129,336 in March 2018 for a repeat violation, and $13,260 in December 2018. In the last incident, an employee leaned over a running conveyor belt to pick up pie plates that fell on floor and sustained skin lacerations when his hand and arm were pulled into the machine, according to OSHA. The employee was hospitalized and required skin grafts.
Harry Kokkinis, the president of Table Talk, said the longtime Worcester manufacturer is committed to keeping a safe workplace.
"Our employees are the most important assets we have, and we want to make sure they're in a safe environment," he said.
Kokkinis declined to comment specifically on the two cases under investigation or those for which the company was fined but said Table Talk has enhanced employee safety training and hired in the past few years a safety manager and coordinator. Between half and two-thirds of the company's 350 employees work in manufacturing, including food production and packaging.
"We work hard to make sure we have a safe environment for our employees. No one should get hurt while making our pies," Kokkinis said. "When an accident happens, we take that very seriously and investigate why safeguards weren't effective in those particular situations."
The two incidents under investigation imply severe medical incidents or risks.
An investigation was opened Oct. 23 for an incident at the Southgate Street location, and another on Nov. 3 at Table Talk's facility on Bowditch Drive in Shrewsbury. In both cases, the word "amputate" is used in OSHA's "emphasis" category. OSHA declined to elaborate on that phrasing and what it could indicate.
OSHA put in place last December a new initiative on addressing amputations in manufacturing industries. Under those guidelines, "amputate" is used to indicate incidents in which complaints and referrals that allege potential exposures to amputation hazards.
The Worcester Police Department said officers were called to the site for medical calls on Oct. 14 and Oct. 27, as well as December 2019 for an incident involving a hand injury caused by machinery. The Shrewsbury Police Department said officers were called to Table Talk's Shrewsbury site on Oct. 31 for a worker who suffered a broken wrist and was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. Neither police department recorded incident reports that would give further information.
Table Talk has facilities off Southgate Street, one that opened in 2017 and another in 2019. It is also building a new facility on Gardner Street about two blocks away that will replace its building on Green and Madison streets in Kelley Square. That facility is planned to open by August 2021.
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