Federal and state labor investigators said Monday they found 63 health and safety violations at a refrigerated food warehouse near Honolulu Airport and have cited 10 companies that face a total of $251,330 in proposed fines.
The occupational safety and health officials said the violations with the largest proposed penalties include sealed exit doors and blocked emergency exit routes, according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release issued Monday.
Unicold Corp. and nine tenants occupy the warehouse at 3140 Ualena St.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and state Occupational Safety and Health Division conducted a joint inspection in February of Unicold Corp.’s warehouse.
Unicold Corp. has 3.4 million cubic feet of refrigerated space, according to the company’s website. It has been providing cold storage and distribution of frozen and refrigerated food since 1962. An official at Unicold declined to comment on the alleged violations.
The names of the nine tenants were not immediately available.
Galen Lemke, director of OSHA’s Honolulu Area Office, said in the news release, "The employers’ shocking decision to seal exit doors and block emergency exit routes to gain additional storage space placed the workers in great jeopardy."
According to the release, inspectors found 13 exit doors that were locked from the outside and sealed shut. Emergency exit doors were also blocked with storage racks filled with pallets.
The sealed doors were described as willful violations, committed with knowing disregard of the health and safety of employees, that carry a total proposed penalty of $112,000.
A majority of the violations — 58 of 63 — were described as serious and associated with the management of highly hazardous chemicals in the ammonia refrigeration system; missing stair railings and unguarded floor openings on stairway platforms; deficiencies in the company’s plan relating to workplace emergencies; and inadequate electrical equipment. The proposed penalties totaled $84,700.
Labor officials were not available to explain what the remainder of the proposed fines was for.
