Dec. 16, 2015

3 workers suffer amputation injuries at envelope printing facility,
company continues to ignore machine safety procedures
OSHA proposes fines of more than $88K at Columbiana, Ohio, plant

COLUMBIANA, Ohio - Three workers suffered amputation injuries within four months at a Columbiana envelope printing facility because their employer failed to protect them from moving machine parts on 26 of the 27 company production lines, a federal inspection found.

Following a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection, the agency cited Envelope 1 on Dec. 15 for three willful and four serious violations. Proposed penalties total $88,200.

"When repeated amputation injuries occur at a business, safety is not a priority," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "After OSHA initiated its first inspection involving an amputation in June 2015, Envelope 1 failed to take immediate steps to protect workers. If they had, it may have prevented other injuries."

OSHA's investigation found the following:

• On June 19, 2015, a machine operator had a finger amputated when it caught in a pinch point of printing section rollers as he wiped a roller. The 52-year-old employee had been employed at the plant for six months.
• On Sept. 16, 2015, a 29-year-old employee suffered partial amputation of his left finger as he cleared material from a scoring section of an envelope line. The operator's hands were exposed to operating parts because the machine lacked adequate safety guards.
• On Sept. 28, 2015, a 73-year-old worker had part of this thumb amputated as he adjusted rollers during the set up of an envelope printing section.

View citations issued here*.

Envelope 1 has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director in Columbus, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, 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 Cleveland Area Office at 216-447-4194.

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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Media Contacts:

Scott Allen, 312-353-6976, allen.scott@dol.gov
Rhonda Burke, 312-353-6976, burke.rhonda@dol.gov

Release Number: 15-2380-CHI

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