Ohio aluminum parts plant faces $1.6M fine in connection with employee death
Fed-OSHA has fined a Ravenna, Ohio engineered automotive castings plant $1.67 million, the largest fine the agency has sought in Ohio since 2016, after its investigation into the late March death of a 43-year-old employee that occurred when the 200 lb. barrier door of a machine he was loading closed on his head and killed him. The agency says it found 38 health and safety violations at the company and placed it in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program following the inspection and two others opened from employee complaints. Cleveland.com
Fed-OSHA is investigating after two employees suffered burn injuries Sunday while working at a Demorest, Georgia rock quarry. Both reportedly were airlifted to an Atlanta hospital. Now Habersham (Clarkesville, Ga.)
Driver injured at North Carolina plant two weeks after death of two employees
A driver was injured Saturday morning at a Fayetteville, North Carolina proteins plant where two workers were found unresponsive nearly two weeks earlier. An employee said it’s likely the two employees found unresponsive were exposed to hydrogen sulfide while working in a pit at the facility. WRAL (Raleigh)
Massachusetts: Water department employee rescued from trench
A Haverhill, Massachusetts Water Department employee was rescued after a trench he was working in collapsed around him and he was buried waist-deep last Wednesday. Inspectors from the state’s Department of Labor Standards and Department of Public Safety reportedly expressed concerns about the lack of a trench box at the site. Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)
Massachusetts metal plant employee burned changing fuse
An employee who was changing a fuse at a Massachusetts metals company was burned in a small explosion Friday morning. Fed-OSHA is investigating. Telegram & Gazette
Pipe company pleads guilty in 2018 electrocution death
Pennsylvania-based Insight Pipe Contracting pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to willfully violating a Fed-OSHA regulation, leading to the electrocution death of a 30-year-old employee who was part of a crew using industrial forklift/crane-type equipment to install pipe-lining material near an intersection in Johnstown. Energized power lines were located above the site. Federal regulations require any piece of equipment capable of having any part of its structure elevated near energized power lines to maintain a clearance of 10 feet. Tribune-Democrat (Johnstown, Pa.)