OSHA has cited a bottling business with 12 alleged safety violations following the death of a 21-year-old temporary worker on his first day on the job. He was crushed to death by a palletizer machine at the Jacksonville facility in August 2012. The company uses a temporary staffing service to provide laborers for certain jobs. He was cleaning glass from under the hoist of a palletizing machine when an employee restarted the palletizer. The facility had failed to train temporary employees on utilizing locks and tags to prevent the accidental start-up of machines and to ensure its employees utilized procedures to lock or tag out machines.
Two willful citations have been issued for failing to develop, document, and utilize lockout/tagout procedures for the control of potentially hazardous energy and train temporary workers on lockout/tagout procedures. Also cited are nine serious violations for exposing workers to trips, struck-by, and fire hazards where fixed permanent conveyors crossed through the aisle, obstructing exit routes, exposing workers to falling bottles and debris from overhead conveyors, and electrical shock hazards. The employer also failed to provide an adequate number of lockout/tagout devices to perform lockout/tagout procedures of energy sources on various equipment, conduct an adequate periodic review of the energy control procedures, perform servicing and maintenance on machines and equipment without training in the methods and means for energy isolation, and require workers to wear safety goggles and long sleeves when using air guns at 90 pounds per square inch. One other-than-serious violation has been cited for storing a mixing tank within 12 inches of the electrical panel box. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
Proposed penalties for the willful and serious violations total $192,000. The citations can be viewed HERE.