Muffler Parts Manufacturer Cited After Two Workers Hurt Within 10 Days
The company now faces $219,242 in proposed penalties.
Two employees at a Green Bay, Wis., muffler component manufacturer suffered severe injuries within 10 days of each other, forcing OSHA to issue one willful, one repeated, one other-than-serious violation and two serious violations. Bay Fabrication faces $219,242 in fines.
A worker had his left hand crushed on July 21, 2016, by a molding machine when the tamp head smashed his hand as he removed a mold from the machine. The investigation found the safety interlock on the door guarding the operating parts was damaged and not functioning properly, leading to the injury, according to the agency, and on July 30, 2016, another worker suffered a partial amputation of his left middle finger after the molding machine cycled and caught his finger in an unguarded pinch point.
"The fact that two workers suffered debilitating injuries is tragic. The reality is that the company failed to re-evaluate its machine safety procedures and continued to expose other workers to the same hazards even after these injuries," said Robert Bonack, OSHA's area director in Appleton. "Adequate and properly installed machine safety guards and lockout/tagout procedures must be in place to prevent workers from coming in contact with operating parts."