Thursday, April 23, 2015

MODEL EMPLOYER: GRAND RAPIDS PLASTICS, INC., A MICHIGAN COMPANY, WHERE WORKER DIED, FINED $558K FOR NUMEROUS SAFETY VIOLATIONS






APRIL 23, 2015

WYOMING, MICH. (WZZM)

 Grand Rapids Plastics, Inc. has been hit with a $558,000 fine for safety violations at its plastic injection molding plant, including omissions that led to a worker's gruesome death last year.

That is the conclusion based on three inspections conducted by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the June 27, 2014 death of Russell Scharenbroch.

Scharenbroch, 34, was inside a cleaning press when the machine was turned on.  A MIOSHA inspection determined the company did not enforce lock-out safety procedures for the horizontal injection molding machine prior to Scharenbroch climbing inside to clean it.

"The machine was left in automatic mode while the employee was inside and another employee cycled on the machine,'' the report concludes. "MIOSHA discovered a pattern of employees entering the machines while the machines were still energized.''

The initial investigation Scharenbroch's death brought to light "many other safety hazards,'' the MIOSHA report says. That prompted MIOSHA to launch a companion inspection June 30 of all five buildings at 4220 Roger B. Chaffee Blvd. SW.

A third inspection was conducted Sept. 3 after a worker complained that Grand Rapids Plastics was not requiring pedestrians to use designated walkways and did not furnish safety glasses free of charge.

As a result of the three inspections, 55 citations were issued, including nine classified as "willful-serious'' citations.

Grand Rapids Plastics was founded in 1976 as a single-plant operation. It was sold in 2001, but reopened by its founding family two years later at the Roger B. Chaffee location.

Scharenbroch's death was one of 37 workplace fatalities in Michigan last year, its highest level in four years. Nearly 25 percent of all worker deaths occurring in West Michigan counties.
Source: http://www.wzzm13.com