Savemart Supermarkets: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jul 26, 2021 (fatal): Employee with covid-19 infection dies

An employee was working as a store manager for a supermarket chain and had just returned from a scheduled vacation in which he traveled out of state by plane to visit family. The employee's vacation started on June 23, 2021 and he returned on July 1, 2021. The employee returned to work on July 2, 2021 and worked for two days before calling off sick on July 4, 2021. The employee tested for COVID-19 on July 5, 2021, which returned positive the next day. The employee died on July 26, 2021. On the day that the employee had returned back to work from vacation, he held a closed door meeting in his office with the assistant store manager and a cashier in which the assistant manager was the only other employee identified as a close contact who later tested positive for COVID-19. The employer did not ensure that unvaccinated employees traveling domestically followed testing and quarantine guidelines issued by the local and state health departments. The employer did not ensure that when in closed door meeting where employees are not able to social distance, employees wore mask at all times to limit the transmission of COVID-19.

Incident on Feb 21, 2019: Employee sustains partial finger amputation on meat saw blad

At 9:30 a.m. on February 21, 2019, Employee #1, a journeyman meat cutter, was cutting a lamb shoulder using a Hobart Corporations 5801 meat saw, equipped with a water resistant 3 HP electric motor and direct gear drive transmission that provides a blade speed of 3500 feet per minute. The blade is guarded above and below the cutting zone. The saw also includes a pusher plate to eliminate the need of handling items close to the blade. The employee was in charge of ensuring the meat counter was stocked with meat to meet customer demand. He had noticed that the stock of lamb shoulder was low in the counter so he went to get more lamb shoulder from the back refrigerator. Since he was in a hurry to fill the meat counter, he decided to slice the meat without using the pusher plate and gauge plate because it was faster. As Employee #1 was cutting the meat, his hand got too close to the edge of the blade and his left middle finger was caught by the blade. He sustained a partial amputation to his left middle finger and was taken to a nearby emergency room, where he was treated and released. was treated and released.