Department of Labor Fines East Texas Pallet Maker $250,000

M&H Crates Inc. faces $254K in penalties after 2024 follow-up inspection.

JACKSONVILLE, TX – Despite receiving warnings and citations for more than a decade, a Jacksonville pallet manufacturer’s history of failing to protect employees from the risk of amputation continues, a U.S. Department of Labor follow-up inspection has found. 

Inspectors with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration returned to M&H Crates Inc. in February 2024 and found lockout/tagout violations similar to those discovered during inspections in 2012 and in subsequent visits in 2014, 2020 and 2022. The company now faces $254,527 in proposed penalties.

During two inspections in February 2022, OSHA cited M&H Crates for one willful violation and 12 serious violations related to unsafe machine operations, forklift drivers not using required seatbelts, fall hazards, and workers not trained to understand or follow lockout/tagout procedures to prevent sudden machine starts or movements.

“M&H Crates Inc. continues to ignore its legal responsibility to comply with federal workplace safety standards,” explained OSHA Area Director Greg Wynn in Dallas. “We will use all measures available to us to hold this company accountable for its continued willingness to expose employees to the serious dangers that exist in manufacturing workplaces.”

Lockout/tagout violations are OSHA’s most frequently cited infractions in the manufacturing industry.

Established in 1968, M&H Crates is an employee-owned pallet manufacturer and supplier. 

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.