OSHA Finds Multiple Hazards After Battery Manufacturer's Worker Loses Part of a Finger
Exide Technologies also received an alert letter for a lack of heat-stress program.
After a worker suffered a partially amputated left middle finger, OSHA conducted a safety inspection at an Exide Technologies facility in Salina, Kansas, and has issued one willful and 10 serious safety and health violations. The agency also issued a hazard alert letter for failing to implement a heat-stress program, according to the agency's news release. OSHA has proposed $127,300 in penalties in the case.
"Exide Technologies is exposing workers to dangerous electrical and machine hazards that can cause devastating and life-changing injuries like the one this worker suffered," said Judy Freeman, OSHA's area director in Wichita. "While working as a strip caster, this man joined 65 other Kansas workers who, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, suffered preventable, workplace amputation injuries in 2015. Exide needs to clean up its act and take immediate action to fix these hazards."
According to investigators, the partial amputation occurred when the employee's left hand was caught in the unguarded belts, pulleys, and gears of a lead chopping machine.