Politics & Government

Norcross Coffee Facility Slapped with Health and Safety Violations

Nineteen citations lead to $46,550 in fines.

The federal Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration targeted a Norcross tea and coffee blending facility because of the high rate of injury and illness among workers there.

What they found was fourteen “serious” violations and five “other-than-serious” violations that could have a negative impact on their employees’ health and safety, according to a release from the OSHA Regional office. 

The serious violations including failure to install isolation devices on a dust collector system to prevent fires and explosions; keeping beams and floors free of coffee and tea dust; failure to develop and implement an emergency plan. 

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Excelso Coffee is a parent company of Atlanta Vending, which provides vending services and coffee to businesses in the Metro area. They have been operating since 1977, according to their website, with Excelso now roasting 2 million pounds of coffee per year—about 10,000 pounds daily. 

The roasting facility is locating at 6700 Dawson Blvd in Norcross. Calls to Excelso were unanswered at the time of publication. 

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Excelso will have 15 days to comply, request a conference with an area director or contest the findings.  The proposed penalties would cost the company a total of $46,550.  

“OSHA continues to find companies engaged in food and beverage production ignoring the dangers of combustible dust and other hazards that threaten the safety and health of their employees,” said Director of OHSA’s Atlanta-East office William Fulcher in a statement. 

“Fixing these violations now is a lot easier than recovering from a fire or explosion that can result in injuries of loss of life,” he added. 


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