Conveyor belts and tracks too often prove to be the source of serious employee injuries. Those injuries attract OSHA’s attention and wind up as fines.

Clearwater Management, Inc., dba Splash Handwash, faces $62,500 in fines after an employee was injured at the company’s Fairfield, CT, carwash.

The worker suffered foot and ankle injuries after he became caught in an unguarded opening on the operating conveyor track that moves vehicles through the carwash.

OSHA issued 11 serious citations, including:

• an unguarded conveyor opening
• uncovered electrical outlets in wet areas
• misused extension cords
• a locked emergency exit, and
• lack of an emergency eyewash for employees working with corrosive cleaners.

The company also faces three repeat citations for lack of eye and face protection for a worker spraying chemical cleaners and for not training workers on chemical hazards and required PPE.

This case is another example of OSHA extending its use of repeat citations to cover violations at different locations owned by the same company. OSHA had cited the company for similar hazards at two of its other carwash locations.

The company has 15 days to decide whether to contest the citations.

Tags: conveyor, foot injury, repeat violation