INTERCONTINENTAL PACKAGING

According to U.S. Department of Labor enforcement records, INTERCONTINENTAL PACKAGING — a all other plastics product manufacturing facility located at 604 WALKER STREET, OPELIKA, AL 36801 — was the subject of a formal OSHA inspection that resulted in 34 citation(s) and cumulative proposed penalties of $19,175.00. The inspection case was opened on 2004-12-08.

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 $19,175.00 is more than 2.3× 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 AL, this facility's penalty places it at the 97th percentile among 30,935 inspected facilities. The statewide average penalty is $3,893.70.

Citation Analysis: The inspection produced 34 citations spanning 9 distinct OSHA regulatory standards. The citation breakdown includes: 5 other-than-serious — The violation has a direct relationship to job safety and health but is unlikely to cause death or serious physical harm. 10 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 December 2, 1994 with the latest abatement deadline set for March 30, 2005. Of the 34 total citations, 13 (38%) have been marked as abated in DOL records, which may indicate ongoing compliance gaps requiring further regulatory attention.

Penalty Assessment: The cumulative penalty of $19,175.00 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 $563.97 falls within the standard penalty range.

The enforcement profile for Intercontinental Packaging revealed a systemic failure to implement foundational hazardous energy control and machine safety protocols, common in the plastics manufacturing sector but executed here with concerning breadth. The citation density—34 violations totaling nearly $20,000—indicated a breakdown in the facility’s safety management system rather than isolated mechanical lapses. Most critical were the recurring violations of 29 CFR 1910.147, which demonstrated that the employer failed to establish comprehensive lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures, provide adequate employee training, or perform required periodic inspections. For the workforce, these omissions created a high-probability environment for catastrophic amputation or crushing injuries during routine maintenance and clearing operations. The gravity of these LOTO citations, coupled with 1910.212 guarding deficiencies, suggested that workers were regularly exposed to "point of operation" hazards without the protection of verified energy isolation. Furthermore, the inclusion of recordkeeping (1904.29) and Hazard Communication (1910.1200) violations pointed to a lack of administrative oversight, suggesting that the facility lacked the internal auditing mechanisms necessary to identify hazards before they reached the level of OSHA intervention. While individual