Primex Plastics Corp. in Oakwood says it is taking steps to rectify problems after two employees’ fingers were severed by machines earlier this year.

Primex responds in wake of workers' maimed hands, citation.

Company faces fines after OSHA investigation.

Times staff reports @gtimes 

POSTED: September 2, 2015 6:42 p.m. 

Primex Plastics Corp. in Oakwood says it is taking steps to rectify problems after two employees’ fingers were severed by machines earlier this year.

In a statement released to The Times on Wednesday, General Manager Mark A. Preston said, “We are doing everything possible to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our employees. This includes not only improvements to machine safety and processes, but also continued education and training for employees to encourage them to follow the required safety procedures in place and avoid injuries.”

The two incidents involving machines that cut plastic happened less than two weeks apart.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration started an investigation in March after officials learned of an employee’s fingers being severed Feb. 28. During an inspection, Primex officials told inspectors of a second amputation the night before on a similar machine.

The company faces $141,100 in penalties related to the incidents, which were among nearly two dozen for which Primex was cited last week, including 18 serious violations and two other-than-serious safety and health violations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Among the serious citations OSHA made were “failure to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards, ignoring procedures to prevent machines from sudden start-up during maintenance and service, not implementing protections for workers exposed to excessive noise, failing to ensure properly guarded machinery such as shearing machines and a drill press and exposing workers to falls.”

Preston said Wednesday that, “safety is the number one priority.”

“Primex Plastics Corporation will continue to cooperate and work with both OSHA and outside resources to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards for our employees,” Preston said in the statement.

Primex, a Richmond, Ind.-based company, has more than 1,100 workers at facilities in Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Nevada.