OAKWOOD - U.S. Labor officials have proposed $141,100 in fines against a manufacturer in Oakwood following two work-related finger amputations earlier this year.
U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Primex Plastics Corp. for what the agency called two repeated, 18 serious and two other-than-serious safety and health violations.
OSHA officials opened an investigation in March, after the February 28 amputation. Company officials told inspections that a second amputation happened the night before on a similar machine, according to OSHA.
The incidents involved workers who had their middle and ring fingers amputated as they removed jammed material from plastic shearing machines, according to the agency.
"Worker safety, not profits, must be a company's priority," Bill Fulcher, OSHA's director of the Atlanta-East Area Office said in a prepared press statement. "Unfortunately, it took two amputations for Primex to address known safety hazards at this facility."
OSHA officials said the company has 15 business days to comply, request a conference with an OSHA area director or contest the findings before the the agency's review commission. The agency cited the firm on August, 27.
OSHA issued repeated citations for the following issues:
- Failing to provide workers exposed to high temperatures with protective equipment
- Storing together oxygen and acetylene cylinders.
OSHA cited serious citations for the following issues:
- Failure to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards.
- Ignoring procedures to prevent machines from sudden start up during maintenance and service.
- Not implementing protections for workers exposed to excessive noise.
- Failing to ensure properly guarded machinery, such as shearing machines and a drill press.
- Exposing workers to falls.
Source, OSHA
