157837 - RESCO PRODUCTS, INC.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, 157837 - RESCO PRODUCTS, INC. — a clay product and refractory manufacturing facility located at 3600 W WENDOVER AVENUE, GREENSBORO, NC 27407 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 14 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $45,000.00. The inspection case was opened on 2024-11-07.

The volume of citations issued during this inspection suggests systematic compliance deficiencies rather than isolated incidents. Facilities with 10 or more citations typically face comprehensive abatement requirements and may be subject to follow-up inspections.

BLS Injury Data: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022), this industry sector has an occupational injury rate of 3.3 per 100 full-time workers — 22% above the national average of 2.7. The sector fatality rate is 2.3 per 100,000 workers.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $45,000.00 is more than 5.3× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 327124). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.

State Context: Within NC, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 88,256 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $1,699.39.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 14 citations spanning 3 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 3 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 11 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning April 29, 2025 with the latest abatement deadline set for May 7, 2025. Of the 14 total citations, 0 (0%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $45,000.00 reflects OSHA's gravity-based penalty calculation methodology, which considers the severity of potential injury, the probability of occurrence, the employer's size, good faith, and violation history. The per-citation average of $3,214.29 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement action against Resco Products, Inc. reveals a profound systemic failure in industrial hygiene management, specifically regarding respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposure. The concentration of citations under 29 CFR 1910.1053 and 1910.134 indicates that the facility lacked a cohesive respiratory protection program, failing at every critical stage from initial exposure assessment to medical surveillance and fit testing. For workers, these omissions translated into a direct, unmitigated risk of developing silicosis or other irreversible pulmonary diseases. The $45,000 penalty, while appearing moderate, is elevated for the clay refractory manufacturing sector, particularly given the heavy weighting toward Serious (S) violations. The data suggests more than isolated oversights; the concurrent violations of Hazard Communication (1910.1200) alongside silica and respiratory standards point to a breakdown in the facility’s internal safety culture and technical oversight. By failing to properly label hazardous materials while simultaneously neglecting to provide adequate medical evaluations for respirator users, the employer effectively obscured the physiological risks workers faced. The presence of multiple $12,500 penalties—near the statutory maximum for individual serious violations—signals that inspectors found high-gravity conditions where the probability of death or serious physical harm was foreseeable and preventable. This record characterizes a reactive safety posture where fundamental health-based engineering controls and administrative safeguards were largely absent.