Illinois silicone plant fined $1.6M related to explosion that killed four employees
Fed-OSHA has fined a Waukegan, Illinois manufacturer of specialty silicone chemical raw materials for adhesives, sealants and coatings $1.591 million after its investigation of the plant explosion that killed four employees in early May. Twelve cited violations are classified as willful. Daily Herald
Machine roll incident kills Michigan worker
A 57-year-old man was killed Friday when a road roller, a machine used to compact soil, he was operating rolled over on top of him at a construction site in Novi. MIOSHA is investigating. ClickOnDetroit
Excavator incident seriously injures Massachusetts worker
A worker whose leg was caught under an excavator suffered a serious compound fracture in Salem, Massachusetts on Friday morning and was transported to a Boston hospital by medical helicopter. Fed-OSHA is investigating. Salem News
Former manager of Ohio aluminum plant sentenced to home confinement for cover-up
An ex-manager of an Ohio aluminum plant who tried to hide the circumstances of an employee’s death in 2012 has been sentenced to three months’ home confinement. His co-worker, a plant manager at the time, was sentenced earlier this month to five months in prison and fined $20,000. The 21-year-old employee was killed when two metal racks stacked on top of each other, weighing between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds, tipped over onto him and another employee. Youngstown Vindicator
Florida employer challenging $185K in fines following employee’s drowning in excavation
A south Florida contractor is challenging more than $185,000 in Fed-OSHA penalties following the death of a worker in April. The incident occurred as an employee worked inside a catch basin while sealing around a newly-installed drainpipe. The employee drowned when a plug that was used to seal an opening failed and allowed water to flood the basin. One cited violation, classified as willful, is for inadequate protection from a cave-in. Miami Herald
Texas company sued by surviving spouse
The wife a worker who was killed in an industrial accident near Caldwell, Texas last month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit for more than $1 million against the construction company that employed him. The employee died while working in a gravel pit on a ranch 100 miles southeast of Waco, after he was struck and crushed by a front-end loader that was moving in reverse. Waco Tribune
Fed-OSHA fines Pennsylvania company after woman’s death in grinder
Fed-OSHA has fined a Lycoming County, Pennsylvania employer $49,000 for citations identified following an April incident in which a 35-year-old employee fell into a meat grinder. She reportedly had been standing on a set of wheeled stairs prior to the fatal injury accident. CBS Philly (Philadelphia) [with video]