AMERICAN RECYCLING & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC.

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, AMERICAN RECYCLING & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC. — a wood container and pallet manufacturing facility located at 58 MCKEE ROAD, ROCHESTER, NY 14611 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 22 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $151,300.00. The inspection case was opened on 2012-12-03.

Cumulative penalties significantly exceed the national median for OSHA enforcement actions. The penalty amount suggests multiple high-gravity citations, indicating conditions that presented a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm to employees.

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 $151,300.00 is more than 18.0× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 321920). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.

State Context: Within NY, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 140,736 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $2,208.33.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 22 citations spanning 9 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 15 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition.

Enforcement Timeline: Citations were issued beginning May 30, 2013 with the latest abatement deadline set for June 30, 2013. Of the 22 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 $151,300.00 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 $6,877.27 falls within the standard penalty range.

The 2012 inspection of American Recycling & Manufacturing Company, Inc. revealed a pervasive breakdown in fundamental safety management systems, characterized by high-gravity violations across multiple critical domains. The assessment of over $150,000 in penalties—a figure significantly higher than the industry average for wood container manufacturing—reflects the severity of the identified hazards. The citation pattern indicates a systemic failure in the Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout), with four distinct violations under 1910.147. This suggests that workers were routinely exposed to catastrophic amputation or crushing risks during machine maintenance due to the absence of specific procedures and training. Furthermore, the presence of machine guarding violations (1910.213) alongside forklift safety (1910.178) and electrical non-compliance underscores a hazardous operational environment where physical barriers and operator competencies were neglected. The high gravity ratings consistently assigned to these citations signal that OSHA inspectors found a high probability of death or serious physical harm. Rather than isolated technical lapses, the breadth of these violations—ranging from egress obstructions to specialized woodworking machinery safety—points to a lack of a functional safety culture. For a facility in NAICS 321920, this enforcement record represents a significant liability profile, indicating that management failed to implement even the most basic elements of an effective injury and illness prevention program.