MIAMI -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued seven serious and two repeat safety citations against Flexible Foam Products Inc. for exposing workers to combustible foam dust and other workplace hazards. Proposed penalties total $72,000.

Flexible Foam was cited for two repeat violations and $50,000 in proposed fines for allegedly failing to keep an area clean and free of dangerous accumulations of explosive and combustible foam dust and for failing to install machine guards on cutting machines to protect workers from amputation hazards. The repeat violations were uncovered during an inspection in May that followed an inspection conducted last November.

Five serious citations with $22,000 in penalties are also being proposed for allegedly operating unapproved propane-powered forklifts in areas with a potential for a dust explosion or fire, using forklifts with nonworking lights, using electrical fixtures not approved for use in explosive atmospheres, using a frayed cord to operate machinery and operating a bench grinder without a machine guard to protect employees from flying pieces of stone.

Read the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's press release.