Aluminum manufacturing company’s history of safety violations continues,
putting employees at Camden County facility at risk of serious injuries
putting employees at Camden County facility at risk of serious injuries
Aluminum Shapes’ 10th inspection since 2011 yields $1.9M in penalties
OSHA initiated its inspection of Delair-based Aluminum Shapes LLC on Jan. 23, 2017. Since 2011, the agency has inspected the facility eight times, cited the employer for 60 violations and assessed $516,753 in penalties.
During its 2017 inspection, OSHA inspectors learned that two employees were hospitalized as a result of separate workplace incidents. The first incident occurred when employees entered a tank to drain residual sludge containing dehydrated sodium hydroxide, aluminum oxide and decomposed metal. After reporting to their supervisors that they were experiencing chemical burns to their skin and attempting to wash off the chemicals, employees were directed to re-enter the tank, where they suffered further chemical injuries, resulting in the hospitalization of one employee.
The second incident occurred when a machine operator suffered a broken pelvis after being caught between the unguarded moving parts of a metal fabrication machine.
OSHA issued willful citations due the company’s failure to:
- Provide appropriate personal protective equipment.
- Conduct air monitoring prior to permit-required confined space entry.
- Have an attendant during permit-required confined space entry.
- Complete a required confined space entry permit to identify, evaluate and control hazards in the space.
- Provide confined space training.
- Utilize proper Lockout/Tagout (Control of Hazardous Energy) Procedures
- Provide workers with locks and hardware to lock out equipment being serviced, maintained, or repaired.
- Lack of specific procedures for the use of blocking devices
- Utilize group lockout procedures.
- Train workers in Lockout/Tagout
OSHA also cited the company for repeat violations, including fall hazards, lack of stair rails and machine guarding, and electrical hazards. The company also received serious citations for inadequate ladders, inappropriate respiratory and hearing protection, insufficient entry permits, and lack of machine guarding and hazardous chemical training. Other-than-serious violations included the company’s failure to record each injury on its injury log.
“Aluminum Shapes’ extensive list of violations reflects a workplace that does not prioritize worker safety and health,” says Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York. “The company can more effectively protect its workers by implementing a comprehensive safety and health management system.”
The citations can be viewed at:
https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/newsroom/newsreleases/OSHA20170971.pdf
Aluminum Shapes manufactures aluminum parts used by several industries, including distribution, building and construction, transportation, electrical, automotive, machinery and equipment, as well as durable consumer goods. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call OSHA’s toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the nearest OSHA Area Office.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful working conditions 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
Aluminum Shapes LLC
Fully Integrated With the Widest Range of Services Available Under One Roof
At Aluminum Shapes, we start the production process by melting scrap and primary ingot to cast billets from seven to sixteen inches in diameter. The billets are then extruded in small, medium, and large presses. At this point, many extruders see their job as done while our value is just beginning.
Shapes punches holes, precision cuts, forms and even welds using over 200 pieces of fabrication equipment. For high volume jobs we use custom machines for optimal efficiency.
All of these services under one roof. One supply chain and one company responsible for all phases of quality and service. For large OEM customers, Shapes employs highly experienced VA VE engineers adept at working with your managers and engineers on cost down projects – die redesign, scrap reduction, handling solutions, and outsource fabrication.
With six (6) high tonnage presses – more than any other North American manufacturer – Shapes can produce and ship over 60 metric tons of extruded aluminum annually in a wide range of press diameters and alloys. Additionally, Shapes has the capacity to cast more than 182 metric tons of aluminum log annually in a wide range of sizes and alloys.
As a fully integrated company, Shapes offers the widest range of production and distribution capabilities in the industry including:
- Billet Casting
- Remelt
- Extrusion
- Die Support
- Fabrication
- Finishings
- Aluminum Anodizing
- Engineering Design Support
- Shipping and Distribution