Stair and Cabinet Manufacturer Cited after Employee Amputation
The Newington, Connecticut, company faces fines from OSHA
According to a news release from OSHA, West Hartford Stairs and Cabinets has been cited by OSHA for 16 serious violations of workplace safety and health standards at its 17 Main St. manufacturing plant in Newington. This follows an inspection conducted by OSHA after an employee lost parts of two fingers in an inadequately guarded machine. The company faces $60,200 in fines.
“This is exactly the type of serious injury that proper guarding of a machine’s operating parts would have prevented,” said Warren Simpson, OSHA’s area director in Hartford, in the story. “Equally disturbing were the fire, chemical and electrical hazards identified during our inspections. It’s imperative that this employer take prompt and effective corrective action to eliminate these hazards and prevent their recurrence.”
OSHA also found that employees were exposed to fire hazards from a dust collection system that lacked a spark detector to prevent hot metal from entering the dust collector and igniting an explosion. Other fire hazards included improper disposal of flammable rags; accumulations of flammable chemicals on spray booth walls and combustible dust in electrical outlets; and failure to have at least two emergency exits from the spraying room where flammable liquids were used.