Frankfort Adhesives Company Fined Nearly $590K For Violations

FRANKFORT, IL — A Frankfort-based adhesives manufacturer faces more than $580,000 in penalties from the U.S. Department of Labor for health and safety issues. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration found 18 violations at the facility for H.B. Fuller Company's Adhseive Systems Inc.

According to OSHA, the company failed to provide employees with respirator fit tests and respirators appropriate for hazardous atmospheres and didn't conduct a personal protective equipment assessment. The manufacturer also didn't ensure that electrical equipment was approved for use in hazardous atmospheres or require bonding and grounding when transferring flammable liquids, the agency said in a statement Monday.

"This employer failed to provide a safe and healthful workplace," said Kathy Webb, the OSHA Chicago South Area Office director. "The company needlessly exposed workers to hazards by failing to provide necessary training or conduct a required workplace hazard assessment."

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The company has 15 business days to either request an informal meeting with Webb or contest the findings, OSHA said. It also can comply and pay the penalties issued, which are $587,564.

Adhesive Systems started in Frankfort in 1989, and it has a 300,000 square foot facility in the village. The location manufactures custom-engineered cyanoacrylate adhesives and other products. The company also has sales engineers in distribution regions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and South America.

The adhesives manufacutrer only recently became a part of H.B. Fuller when that company acquired Royal Adhesives and Sealants, Adhesives Systems' former parent corporation, in 2017.

Adhesive Systems Inc. in Frankfort (Image via Google Earth)