Industrial Laundry Facility Cited in Worker's Death
OSHA says that Crothall Laundry Services failed to prevent equipment from operating.
OSHA has cited Crothall Laundry Services in Oak Creek, Wis., for six serious safety violations after a man was severely injured while servicing equipment at the company's laundry facility. According to the agency's news release, a conveyor system propelled the employee into an industrial dryer and he became trapped. He died of his injuries 14 days later.
Some of the violations inspectors from OSHA include: The dryer's conveyor should have been made inoperable, energy isolating devices for the control of hazardous energy were not used on dryers and conveyors, and specific procedures for the control of hazardous energy were not developed for dryers and conveyors.
"This man's untimely death would easily have been prevented if Crothall Laundry had utilized procedures to prevent the conveyor belt from operating while the worker was conducting servicing," said Christine Zortman, OSHA's area director in Milwaukee. "Training workers and complying with OSHA standards protect workers from injury and death on the job."