2015 OSHA Violations
Companies cited in the first quarter of 2015 for machine hazards include:
• Gateway Extrusions Ltd. allegedly exposed workers to amputation and other serious hazards while operating presses at the company's aluminum parts manufacturing facility in Union, Mo. OSHA cited the company with one repeat and eight serious safety and health violations and issued penalties of $63,000. An inspection found that two operating machines lacked proper safety mechanisms. The company was cited for a similar violation in 2013, as the company failed to implement lockout/tagout procedures and inadequately guarded the point-of-operation of some operating machines, such as press brakes.
• An employee lost all the toes on his left foot when an auger was turned on in the grain bin he was cleaning in Waterville, Kansas. The Beattie Farmers Union Cooperative Association was fined $65,900 for failure to place locking devices on augers. One willful, one repeated and three serious safety and health violations were found. Inspectors also noted that drive pulleys on the bucket elevator legs and augers lacked adequate safety mechanisms to prevent workers from coming into contact with operating machinery parts. Beattie previously was cited for this violation in 2010.
• Alliance Tubular Products LLC put workers at risk of amputation and other serious injuries twice in one year. An inspection found three repeat and four serious violations, garnering $139,800 in proposed fines at the high-end industrial steel tubing manufacturer in Alliance, Ohio. OSHA cited similar violations at the company's facility in Darlington, Pa., in 2014 and at the Alliance facility in 2012 where workers were exposed to operating machine parts with incorrectly installed safety mechanisms. Inspectors also noted four alleged serious violations that involved lack of procedures to prevent unintentional operation of machinery during maintenance. The company has since been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
http://ehstoday.com/safety/2015-osha-violations