The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited a manufacturer of metal buildings for safety violations that resulted in a worker suffering an amputation in improperly maintained machinery, the Department of Labor has announced.
Corle Building Systems Inc., based in Imler, Pa., faces $154,143 in proposed penalties after being cited by OSHA for a "willful violation" of insufficient machine guarding, such as not having proper safeguards like barriers, on machinery, the DOL reported June 9. The company was also charged with four serious violations: failure to develop lockout/tagout procedures to prevent machinery from starting unexpectedly; not performing annual reviews of those procedures; and making sure machinery was locked out before being cleaned by employees, the statement reports.
The determinations were made following an OSHA investigation into an accident in January when a 40-year-old worker had one finger amputated and another severely injured while cleaning a machine. Investigators "determined that a lack of functional machine safety locks allowed the rag the worker was using to become caught and pulled into the machine’s steel rollers, leading to the injury," the report states.
Corle Building Systems, which designs and builds large commercial buildings such as warehouses, churches, hangars, schools and sports facilities, "willfully exposed the worker to amputation hazards," according to OSHA.
“Corle Building Systems failure to comply with required machine guarding standards led to a serious and preventable injury,” Christopher Robinson, OSHA area director in Pittsburgh. “Employers are legally responsible for inspecting all equipment regularly, ensuring machine guards and safety devices are working properly and training workers on how to do their jobs safely.”
