September 29, 2023 5:59 PM
An Ohio company was charged over one million in penalties by the U.S. Department of Labor after a worker suffered severe injuries as a result of being caught in a machine on April 28, 2022
The U.S Department of Labor reports that this is the eighth injury at the NOX US LLC plant in Fostoria since February 2017 that was related to the company’s failures to follow required machine safety procedures.
The company has recorded at least thirteen serious injuries at the plant since 2017. One such incident, in which workers were exposed to burn and amputation hazards, caused the Fostoria plant to be placed on OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program in 2017, according to the Department of Labor.
The April inspection found that the worker’s finger was first caught in a rotating spindle on a plastic winding machine and then their body was pulled around the machine’s spindle. The worker had been on the job for just six weeks when they suffered multiple severe injuries, including surgery.
OSHA found the company to be in violation of several safety regulations, including willfully exposing its workers to machine hazards and failing to provide adequate personal protective equipment.
If you receive citations or penalties, you have 15 business days to comply with them or face larger fines.