A manufacturer of rigid metal, plastic, and hybrid containers faces $503,380 in proposed penalties after OSHA inspectors responded to four (4) separate reports of workers suffering injuries at the facility. As a result of its investigations, OSHA cited the business for five (5) repeated and five (5) serious safety violations of machine safety procedures and placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program. In the past five (5) years, 15 workers suffered amputations at the Chicago plant.
OSHA found one employee suffered two broken bones in his hand after a piece of equipment crushed it. Three other employees suffered amputations from an unguarded chain and sprocket assemblies. The agency issued repeated citations for failing to train workers in lockout/tagout procedures that prevent unintentional machine movement and inadequate machine guarding on a mechanical power press, belts and pulleys, and chains and sprockets. The five serious citations involve failing to lockout equipment before clearing jams and inadequate machine guarding on multiple pieces of equipment. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, the company has 27 facilities and about 4,000 employees in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico – with about 500 employees in Chicago. Here are the citations: