The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to fine Clarion Sintered Metals, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based manufacturing company, for an accident that severely injured one of its employees. The company could be fined as much as $74,000.
According to OSHA, the employee’s leg was crushed while the employee was loading materials into a trash compactor. After being hospitalized the employee required a leg amputation.
Following an investigation into the accident, OSHA cited the manufacture for 30 serious violations. Among the violations were four violations relating to the Clarion’s failure to furnish a safe workplace without recognizable hazards likely to result in death and its failure to comply with OSHA health and safety standards. OSHA also found that Clarion had not furnished employees with emergency stop buttons, which contributed to the severity of the employee’s injuries and amputation in this case.
OSHA also discovered that Clarion exposed its employees to unprotected machinery, struck-by hazards and required employees to use damaged and uninspected equipment. Furthermore, Clarion failed to give its employees hepatitis B vaccines, and other vaccines to employees who should have had them due to occupational exposure risks. In addition to the 30 serious violations, the manufacturing firm also received seven citations for other-than-serious violations.
Unfortunately, a worker had to lose his leg before this manufacturing company was punished for its unsafe working conditions. Hopefully, though, the worker was not injured in vain and the loss of the worker’s leg will prompt the company to improve workplace safety conditions for its workers in the future.
Pennsylvania workers who suffer serious injuries on the job can try to seek assistance to pay for their medical bills by pursuing a workers’ compensation claim. Because each claim is different, and some can be very complex, some workers may benefit from obtaining legal representation to assist them in making their compensation claims.
Source: Business Insurance, “Worker’s leg amputation leads to OSHA fine for metal parts maker,” Gloria Gonzalez, Nov. 18, 2015