TEMPORARY WORKER
SUFFERS PERMANENT DISABILITY AFTER PACKAGING MACHINE CRUSHES HIM. OSHA CITES PLASTIC BOTTLE MANUFACTURER, ICE
RIVER SPRINGS PLANT IN HIGH SPRINGS, FLORIDA FOR SERIOUS AND WILLFUL SAFETY
VIOLATIONS
This palletizer conveyor is the type
of machine an Ice River Springs worker unjammed on July 6, 2014, at the
company's High Springs, Florida, facility.
Jan. 6, 2015
HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. – A 50-year-old temporary worker was permanently disabled
after a machine used to package cases of bottled water onto a pallet for
shipment started up while he cleared a jam in the machine. The worker had been
on the job for 12 days at the Ice River Springs plant in High Springs.
An investigation by the U.S.
Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration in July
2014 found that the employer allowed workers to enter the palletizer's safety
cage area and bypass two photo-eye safety sensors that served as machine
safeguards. When the employee freed the pallet from its jammed position, he
unknowingly activated the palletizer elevator's photo-eye sensor and became
entrapped between the elevator and the palletizer conveyor. OSHA cited the
water-bottle manufacturer for three safety violations. Proposed penalties total
$84,000.
TempForce of Gainesville, a
franchised affiliate of Randstad, provided Ice River Springs with temporary
workers, while Ice River Springs provided daily supervision, training and
direction for the temporary workers employed at the facility. OSHA concluded an
inspection with TempForce and did not issue citations to the staffing agency.
"OSHA has received far too many
reports of temporary workers injured or killed on the job, with some of these
incidents occurring in the employee's first few days at work," said Brian
Sturtecky, OSHA's area director in Jacksonville. "It is critical that Ice
River Springs and TempForce understand OSHA's newest initiatives to protect
temporary workers, which must include shared responsibility by the host
employer and the temporary staffing agency. These initiatives include taking
effective steps to ensure that each temporary worker is sufficiently trained
and monitored to safeguard them from the hazards of their new work
environment."
OSHA issued a willful citation to
Ice River Springs for failure to ensure workers were protected from moving
machine parts during service or maintenance. The 41 full-time and temporary
employees who work onsite were exposed to serious injury or death due to this
violation. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or
voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to
worker safety and health.
Two serious violations were cited
for failure to conduct an annual inspection of lockout/tagout
procedures and for not training workers to recognize hazardous machinery or
implement proper maintenance controls. 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.
In April 2013, OSHA announced an initiative to
improve workplace safety and health for temporary workers, who are
at increased risk of work-related injury and illness. The initiative includes
outreach, training and enforcement to ensure that temporary workers are
protected on the job. OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health have also issued a "Recommended
Practices"* publication that focuses on ensuring temporary
workers receive the same training and protection as permanent employees.
Ice River Springs operates 11
facilities in North America. The company manufactures plastic bottles that are
filled with water from a neighboring spring and packaged for grocery operators
with the company's label.
Ice River Springs has 15 business
days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a
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 Jacksonville Area
Office at 904-232-2895.
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.