OSHA citation against Louisiana-Pacific vacated
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The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission vacated a citation and fine against building materials manufacturer Louisiana-Pacific Corp., which had been cited after a worker’s arm was injured when it was caught in a machine at a mill in Thomasville, Alabama.
In its decision announced last week, the OSHRC said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration failed to prove Louisiana-Pacific committed a serious workplace safety violation related to machine guarding and amputation hazards.
OSHA has issued the citation and a $13,643 penalty in connection with the May 2021 incident in which an employee was seriously injured when his arm was caught in a trim waste conveyor.
In vacating the citation, the review commission determined that the employee’s entry into the area surrounding the conveyor’s “ingoing nip point” was “not reasonably predictable” and that there was no evidence supervisors required workers to clean inside that area.
