ATTLEBORO – The Mantrose-Haeuser Co. Inc. faces proposed fines of $192,000 for 29 violations of health and safety standards at its Attleboro plant, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The agency’s inspection of the factory, at 113 Olive St., followed a July 17 incident in which an employee lost his hand when it became caught in the unguarded rotating valve of a dust-collection machine, according to OSHA’s Braintree-area office. The plant had been cited with a similar hazard in April 2005, so the lack of guarding spurred a proposed fine of $35,000, OSHA said.

Repeat citations also were issued for two other violations – unguarded work platforms and an emergency exit door that could not be opened – carrying a total of $25,000 in proposed fines, OSHA said.

The inspection also found that the plant had failed to develop and implement procedures for shutting down machines and locking their power sources to prevent unintended startups, the agency said. That finding spurred one willful citation, carrying a proposed fine of $70,000, OSHA said.

Another 25 citations were issued for “serious” violations – blocked, obstructed or unmarked emergency exit doors and routes; lack of lockout/tagout devices and training; trip and fall hazards; fire extinguishers not readily available; inadequate respirator fitting and training; confined-space hazards; a defective pallet jack; unlabeled containers of chemicals; unapproved containers for flammable liquid; and a lack of written procedures, training and other elements of a process safety-management plan – carrying proposed fines totaling $62,000, the agency said.

(OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with indifference to, or intentional disregard of, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and related regulations; a serious violation is one involving a hazard the employer knew about or should have known about, from which death or serious physical harm is likely to result.)

“The number of citations reflects the wide array of hazards found during our inspection, as well as the employer’s knowledge of the lockout hazard and the recurrence of conditions cited during an earlier OSHA inspection,” Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s Braintree-area director, said in a Jan. 24 statement. “As demonstrated in this case, continued failure to adhere to safety and health standards exposes employees to serious injuries and potential fatal fire, chemical, mechanical, fall, confined-space and machine-guarding hazards.”

But in a statement e-mailed to Providence Business News this evening, plant manager Brian Terando said, “There is no basis on which to characterize any actions as either ‘willful’ or ‘repeat.’”

The company “took immediate corrective actions” after the July accident, “installing additional protection, implementing new operational procedures and updating our training programs,” he said.

“The safety and well-being of our employees is and has been our top priority, and we are committed to doing whatever we can to prevent accident or injury,” Terando added. “We have been meeting and fully cooperating with OSHA throughout its review of our operations. However, we respectfully disagree with the nature of some of its findings.”

Mantrose-Haeuser has requested an informal conference with the OSHA area director, and may also contest the proposed citations and penalties in a hearing before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, the company said.

Federal law allows a company 15 days from the date of an OSHA ruling to file such appeals.

Additional information, including advice on workplace safety, is available from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration atwww.osha.gov.

The Mantrose-Haeuser Co. Inc. – based in Westport, Conn. – is a maker of edible coatings and films for the food, supplement and pharmaceutical industries. Mantrose-Haeuser is one of the industrial businesses of Zinsser Co. Inc., a division of Medina, Ohio-based RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM). To learn more, visit www.mbzgroup.com.