Tax preparation business cited for coronavirus hazards

The owner of a Lynn, Massachusetts, tax preparation service faces $136,532 in penalties for prohibiting her employees and customers from wearing masks, failing to ensure employees and customers practiced social distancing, and refusing to implement other safeguards against the coronavirus.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Ariana Murrell-Rosario – doing business as Liberty Tax Service – for willfully failing to develop and implement measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

OSHA opened its March 17, 2021, inspection following a referral from the Division of Labor Standards of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. OSHA found that Murrell-Rosario and Liberty Tax Services:

• Prohibited employees and customers from wearing face coverings in the workplace despite a statewide mask order that mandated the business to require employees and customers to wear masks.
• Required employees to work within 6 feet of each other and customers for multiple hours while not wearing face coverings.
• Failed to provide adequate means of ventilation at the workplace.
• Failed to implement controls such as physical barriers, pre-shift screening of employees, enhanced cleaning and other methods to reduce the potential for person-to-person transmission of the virus.

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