OSHA Slaps Hubbard Plant With Hefty Fine
HUBBARD, Ohio -- Ball Aerosol and Specialty Container Inc.'s plant here has been cited 11 times and fined $589,000 by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violations that exposed machine operators "to serious amputation hazards."
In a release issued yesterday, OSHA said that an inspection of Ball Aerosol's plant on Oct. 17, 2012, found that the company knowingly permitted workers to operate machines without proper guarding. The employer was cited for operating without guarding for the same equipment in 2009.
The inspection found that the guarding was not installed or was removed because it slowed material positioning and production output.
"Ball Aerosol's management made a decision to continue to expose machine operators to serious amputation hazards," said Nick Walters, OHSA's regional administrator in Chicago. "Workers should not be asked to take such risks, and OSHA will not tolerate such disregard for worker safety."
OSHA issued six willful, egregious citations for inadequate machine guarding over the blades of slitter machines, the agency said. OSHA also found that the company knowingly continued to violate agency requirements each time the machinery was placed in operation.
A seventh willful citation was issued for lack of machine guarding over nip points and rotating parts on feed tables. Three repeat citations were issued for failing to provide fire extinguisher training for employees; failing to provide machine guards to protect operators; and failing to guard the blades at two guillotine machine shears, OSHA said.
Another citation was issued for exposing workers to falls of more than 10 feet while working on a platform with open sides.
Because of these latest violations, Ball Aerosol was placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Under the program, the agency may inspect any of Ball Aerosol's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
Attempts at contacting the company for comment were unsuccessful.
Ball Aerosol, based in Broomfield, Colo., manufactures small metal containers used in the food, beverage, and chemical industries and employs 12,000 workers worldwide. The Hubbard plant employs 57, and produces three-piece welded paint and general lines cans.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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