OSHA review commission affirms citations in arm amputation
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has upheld citations and $87,963 in fines issued to a rubber manufacturer after a worker’s arm was amputated.
The commission, in a ruling published Thursday, affirmed citations and penalties against Trenton, New Jersey-based Denaka Partners LP over a December 2020 incident in which an employee’s arm was severed when his shirt sleeve got pulled into a mill.
An inspector issued citations alleging serious and willful violations pertaining to machine guarding standards, a failure to timely offer Hepatitis B vaccinations to employees, and for failing to provide an occupational exposure training program to employees exposed to bloodborne pathogens.
The company contested the citations in July 2021.
The review commission upheld the willful violation citation relating to the bloodborne pathogen cleanup training, writing that while the company offered some level of training, it still acted with “intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard” of OSHA’s complete bloodborne pathogen training standards.
The commission downgraded the hepatitis B vaccination violation from willful to serious, finding that even though the company offered the vaccine after the exposure as opposed to beforehand, it did not act with “plain indifference to employee safety.”
The commission also upheld the machine guarding violation citation, finding that the company didn’t take corrective action following a previous amputation incident.
