Region 4 News Release: 13-1303-ATL (156)
July 8, 2013
Contact: Michael D'Aquino Lindsay Williams
Phone: 404-562-2076 404-562-2078
Email: d'aquino.michael@dol.gov williams.lindsay.l@dol.gov

US Department of Labor's OSHA cites Ardagh Glass in Warner Robins, Ga.,
for willful and serious violations following amputation of worker's finger

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – Ardagh Glass Inc. has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for one willful and one serious safety violation after a worker suffered a finger amputation and crushed hand while removing a glass mold from a bottle-shaping machine at the company's facility in Warner Robins. OSHA initiated an inspection in response to the incident under its National Emphasis Program on Amputations.

The willful violation involves failing to develop and utilize lockout/tagout procedures when workers are performing service and setup operations on equipment. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

The serious violation involves failing to ensure workers that operate equipment were protected to prevent contact at the point of operation with moving parts and molten glass. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

"The employer was fully aware that workers reached into the moving machine while they serviced the glass molds, yet nothing was done to protect workers from serious injury," said Bill Fulcher, director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office. "It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that proper safety procedures are understood and followed at all times."

Proposed penalties on Ardagh Glass Inc., which specializes in glass and metal packaging for food and beverages and is a subsidiary of Ardagh Group in Tampa, Fla., total $77,000. The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Atlanta-East office at 770-493-6644.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The information above is available in large print, Braille or CD from the COAST office upon request by calling 216-893-7828 or TTY 216-893-7755.