$111,000 in Penalties, SVEP Referral in Amputation Case
OSHA has cited Knowlton Manufacturing Co. for three willful, one repeat, and six serious violations in connection with the November 2011 injury.
OSHA has placed Knowlton Manufacturing Co., a Cincinnati metal stamping and assembly company, in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program and cited it for three willful, one repeat, and six serious violations in connection with a worker's Nov. 12, 2011, amputation injury. The agency said the employee's arm was amputated while the employee was performing maintenance work on a mechanical power press.
SVEP companies will receive targeted follow-up inspections. OSHA's release about the citations said OSHA previously inspected Knowlton three times since 2001 and cited it for electrical, machine and power transmission guarding, power press guarding, and lockout/tagout violations.
The new case includes alleged willful violations for operating power presses without point-of-operation guards, failing to isolate the energy sources of power presses, and failing to place locks on energy isolation devices before performing maintenance on mechanical power presses. A repeat violation concerns the company's alleged failure to conduct periodic and regular inspections of power presses. Six serious violations allege it failed to provide machine guarding on lathes and grinders, properly stamp dies with weight requirements, use safety blocks when making adjustments to dies in presses, or protect flexible cords from damage.
"Knowlton Manufacturing has demonstrated a lack of commitment to worker safety by failing to ensure energy sources were isolated and locked out prior to allowing maintenance work on power presses," said Bill Wilkerson, OSHA's area director in Cincinnati. "OSHA is committed to protecting workers, especially when employers fail to do so."
For more information about SVEP, visit http://s.dol.gov/J3.