Cast house cited for numerous safety violations......

Government safety agencies are tasked with assuring safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance. The enforcement of standards is accomplished by onsite inspections. If standards are not met a company can be cited and possibly fined. Here is a recent story regarding an onsite inspection.

Because this company will have the opportunity to contest this fine, the APSB has left out the company name.

Employees at an aluminium company were exposed to amputation, fall hazards and unsafe crane operations, according to a U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection. OSHA has issued two willful, one repeat and two serious safety violations, carrying proposed penalties of over $78,000 Euros. The inspection at the manufacturing facility that produces aluminum material for use in automotive rims and other parts was initiated following a complaint. The company has also been placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

"This company allowed workers to stand on blocks elevated by a forklift, and that's just one visible example of the total disregard for worker safety and health at this plant," said the local OSHA area director. "By placing company in our Severe Violator Enforcement Program, OSHA is putting the company on notice that this is unacceptable."

OSHA's Spring 2014, inspection found one willful violation for insufficient machine guarding on a robot cell that exposed workers to amputation hazards. A second willful violation was cited for failing to remove a crane with broken safety mechanisms from service. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Employees were exposed to a fall hazard of more than 23 feet because the company had not installed guardrails over an open pit, and employees that worked in the pit area were not provided fall protection. The aluminium company was previously cited at this facility for this same violation in 2012.

OSHA issues repeat violations if an employer was previously cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

During the inspection, workers were found standing on aluminum blocks elevated by a forklift to perform tasks on the furnace. This was an inappropriate use of the forklifts, and it exposed workers to falls of at least 2.5 meters. OSHA found that live electric equipment operating at high voltages was not guarded against human contact. These hazards resulted in the issuance of two serious violations. 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.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog is glad that these issues were found before a worker, contractor or visitor was injured or killed. The APSB has posted incident(s) involving injuries and fatalities for each and every violation that this aluminium company was cited and fined.

A serious violation occurs when the employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to. During the onsite inspection the government safety officer observed (and subsequently cited the company) an employee was exposed to a fall hazard of approximately 8 feet while standing on a primary aluminum block which was elevated by a forklift in order to perform tasks on the furnace. Fall protection was not provided to employees performing the task. OSHA states “if an employee is exposed to falling 6 feet (l .8 meters) or more from an unprotected side or edge, the employer must select either a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system to protect the worker.” That is the regulation in the United States, whilst the Health & Safety Executive (UK) has similar requirements. Some aluminium companies in our industry have lowered the threshold for mandatory fall protection equipment. Which is good, because the APSB knows of injuries and one fatality where a fall of less the 6 feet occurred. With that said the APSB has recently been in Asia and one aluminium company requires their workers to wear hard hats with chin straps. Which prevents that hardhat from being dislodge during falls.

Another serious violation was cited when live parts of electric equipment operating at 50 volts or more were not guarded against accidental contact by approved cabinets of other forms of approved enclosures, or other means listed under this provision.

A willful violation is defined (by OSHA) as a violation in which the employer either knowingly failed to comply with a legal requirement (purposeful disregard) or acted with plain indifference to employee safety. The government safety inspectors observed an overhead crane, continued to be operated after daily inspections identified a safety mechanism as being inoperable or in disrepair. The company was sighted for a willful violation.

Lastly the company was cited for a willful violation for one or more methods of machine guarding was not provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks.

During the onsite inspection the effective guarding was not in place for a saw. Employees were able to enter the enclosed cell area to both measure production pieces for quality assurance and prepare production pieces for shipment. Employees were exposed to the movement of the robot arm by placing themselves inside the cell to complete tasks. The APSB has posted numerous incidents where insufficient machine guarding has either injured or killed an employee. One common comment that the APSB has heard is that “this machine is 20+ years old”. Age of a machine has no bearing on whether or not it should have guarding properly installed and maintained. All equipment that has the potential to injure a worker should have guarding installed. Though new equipment should be designed to meet the current safety regulations, older equipment may have been built prior without the proper safety mechanisms. All old equipment needs to be inspected to ensure that it meets current regulations. If the equipment is found not to be compliant, first contact the equipment manufacturer for assistance. Do not attempt to change or alter any machinery without the assistance of the machinery manufacturer. Government safety organizations will always ask “was the manufacturer consulted”, “please show documentation of the consultation with the manufacturer.”

Finally the company was cited for a repeat violation of covers and/or guardrails were not provided to protect personnel from the hazards of open pits, tanks, vats, ditches, etc.

Employees were exposed to a fall hazard of approximately 7 meters while working on top of the aluminum casting pit. Employees are required to stand on an aluminum grated plank which spans the width of the pit. Guardrails are not present to prevent employees from falling into the pit. The hazard of pit guarding is a relatively recent acknowledgement for our industry. The awareness of the need of pit guarding was brought forth by several incidents involving by injuries and fatalities. The Aluminum Association’s Regional Cast House Safety Workshop to be held next month in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States will have a presentation on Pit Guarding. Program can be viewed here.

The APSB is confident that the violations that the aluminium company were cited for will be corrected immediately and procedures will be installed to prevent recurrence of this issues. 

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