OSHA cites Basic Grain
Products after 2 workers injured
at Coldwater, Ohio, rice-cake plant
Dec. 18, 2014
COLDWATER, Ohio – In response to a
complaint of an electrical shock injury, the U.S. Department of
Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that a 20-year
employee was injured while he performed service work on an electrical panel at
a Coldwater rice-cake manufacturer. Following the investigation, OSHA has cited
Basic Grain Products Inc. for two repeated and five serious safety violations.
The employee missed two days of work due to the electrical
shock injury which occurred Aug. 18, 2014. OSHA also learned that another
employee missed 20 workdays and was on restricted duty for an additional 22
days after part of his ring finger was amputated on June 19, 2014, as he
adjusted a machine used to make rice cakes.
"Basic Grain Products must ensure that its workers are not
exposed to dangerous machinery and are never expected to conduct maintenance
without shutting down electrical and energy sources," said Kim Nelson,
OSHA's area director in Toledo. "Those actions can prevent severe injuries
like those suffered by these workers."
OSHA's investigation determined that the employee who suffered
the amputation injury while servicing the rice-cake machine was exposed to the
operating parts of the machinery because it had not been properly powered down
before maintenance.
The investigation also found Basic Grain Products failed to
implement electrical safety-related work practices, which included no use of
personal protective equipment; untrained workers; and inadequate clearance in
front of electrical panels. These violations resulted in five serious safety
citations. 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.
OSHA also cited the company for exposing workers to unguarded rice-cake machines that had been
improperly powered down to prevent them from starting up during maintenance.
These violations exposed workers to amputation* and laceration hazards. Similar violations
were found at the company in 2013. OSHA issues repeated citations when a
company has been cited previously for the same or a similar violation at any
facility within federal enforcement states in the past five years.
Based in Coldwater with about 130 employees, Basic Grain
Products is one of the largest private-label manufacturers and suppliers of
rice cakes and other healthy snacks to supermarkets nationwide. The company
faces proposed penalties of $58,410.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations
and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area
director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety
and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a
complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing
imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at
800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Toledo Area Office at 419-259-7542.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers
are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their
employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men
and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education
and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.