GRAND RAPIDS PLASTICS INC

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, GRAND RAPIDS PLASTICS INC — a all other plastics product manufacturing facility located at 4220 ROGER B CHAFFEE BLVD, GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49548 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 160 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $587,890.00. The inspection case was opened on 2007-03-29.

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.

EPA Environmental Record: The EPA shows no current violations for this facility. regulated under: RCRA Hazardous Waste. Source: EPA ECHO database.

Industry Benchmark: The total penalty of $587,890.00 is more than 69.9× the national average of $8,414.32 for facilities in the Manufacturing sector (NAICS 326199). This sector encompasses 52,095 inspected facilities nationwide with aggregate penalties totaling $438.3M.

State Context: Within MI, this facility's penalty places it at the 100th percentile among 106,495 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $1,470.95.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 160 citations spanning 14 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 7 serious — A workplace hazard that could cause death or serious physical harm exists, and the employer knew or should have known about the condition. 8 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 August 31, 2001 with the latest abatement deadline set for September 24, 2001. Of the 160 total citations, 15 (9%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $587,890.00 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 $3,674.31 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement action against Grand Rapids Plastics Inc. represented a catastrophic failure of safety management systems, evidenced by the staggering volume of 160 citations and a penalty exceeding half a million dollars. For a facility in the plastics manufacturing sector, this level of enforcement is an extreme outlier, signaling that hazards were not merely overlooked but were endemic to the production culture. The citation patterns—specifically focusing on machine guarding (408.12612), lockout/tagout (1910