A Texas manufacturer has been cited for willful and serious safety violations after an employee reportedly suffered an amputation at the company’s facility in Waco.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Hobbs Bonded Fibers Inc. for one willful and five serious safety violations. Hobbs was also cited last June for exposing employees to workplace hazards.
It was reported that an employee’s arm was pulled into the rollers of an operating textile machine while the employee was cleaning fibrous material out from under the machine.
The willful violation is failing to ensure that shaft ends were guarded and keyways covered, and machine guarding was provided for rotating belts, pulleys, chains and sprockets to prevent contact with pinch points.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
The serious violations include failing to ensure an exit route met height/width requirements and was not located in a high-hazard area, provide specific lockout/tagout procedures to verify the control of energy and train workers in relevant lockout/tagout procedures when their job assignments were changed.
A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. Proposed penalties for these most recent violations total $103,950.
In June 2011, OSHA cited Hobbs with 29 serious violations carrying $161,100 in penalties for exposing workers to a variety of workplace hazards. The company has contested these citations and penalties.
Topics Texas Manufacturing
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