OSHA opens 2 investigations after teen critically injured at Wisconsin repair shop
CC Posted: Jun 30, 2016 4:50 PM EST Updated: Jun 30, 2016 4:50 PM EST
COLUMBUS (WKOW) -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Wage and Hour Division have opened two investigations after a 17-year-old worker was critically injured Monday, June 27.
The teen was working at G.D. Roberts and Co., Inc. in Columbus when he was pinned in a machine while cleaning scrap from underneath a laser cutter.
Preliminary information shows the teen is employed as a general laborer and the night of the injury was taken to a hospital with life threatening injuries.
OSHA regulations require machines be rendered inoperable during service and maintenance.
Under the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a 17-year-old is not allowed to operate certain power driven machinery. DOL believes the worker had been employed at the machine shop for about a month.
“OSHA offers its condolences to the family of this injured young worker,” said Ann Grevenkamp, OSHA’s Area Director in Madison, whose office is investigating. “These types of preventable injuries occur far too often and are amongst the most frequently cited by OSHA. OSHA will conduct a thorough investigation to determine if violations of machine safety procedures contributed to this tragic incident.”