OSHA issues LOTO citations regarding a ribbon blender fatality

At 11:57 a.m. on December 27, 2016, an employee, 27 years old, was performing a “salt flush” on line four 2,500 lb. double ribbon mixer. He/she dropped an 80 lb. bag of salt into the mixer.   A coworker walked down to close the mixer trap door, and the deceased employee entered the mixer to retrieve the bag without first locking out the mixer. After the worker entered the mixer, a coworker placed another bag of salt onto the mixer area with the limit switches that indicated that the mixer lids were closed. Because the machine operated via only the emergency stop button, the machine began to operate with the employee trapped inside, killing him/her. The employee was killed from trauma to the chest.  Here are OSHA’s citations, which are being contested…

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