After receiving reports of poor working conditions, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating the nonprofit organization Avenues, located in Pottsville.
According to an article on the RepublicanHerald.com, a former Avenues employee filed a complaint with OSHA, saying the facilities are “unsanitary, inadequate, and outdated” for clients and workers. Avenues provides employment and other opportunities to people with disabilities. It began in 1952 as United Cerebral Palsy.
In the complaint, the former employee stated that doors to the building are not accessible to those in wheelchairs; there is no security system or security personnel; there is no designated separate waste receptacles to dispose of soiled latex gloves, disposable briefs, diapers, and wipes; chemicals and other hazardous materials are left in an unlocked garage workshop; as well as some other problems.
Avenues has a week to respond to the complaint.