Worker caught in machine, then crushed to death; $120K OSHA fine

March 14, 2012 by Fred Hosier

Posted in: Compliance, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, OSHA news, Who Got Fined and Why?

OSHA has filed 16 safety violations against a company in Warrior, AL, in connection with the death of a worker on Sept. 12, 2011.

Stella-Jones Corp., a manufacturer of railroad ties, faces $120,600 in fines.

Local news reports from last September say Shannon Sullins, 34, was killed when his left arm became trapped in machinery. Sullins was unable to escape when a portion of the machine lowered onto him while he was trapped. He suffered fatal injuries.

The coroner reported that a sign on the machine that killed Sullins said, “Do not operate machine while doors are open.” The news report said there were no doors on the machine because they were removed and stacked in a corner.

OSHA issued one willful violation for failing to install guards to prevent access to the rotating and moving parts of a machine used to drill holes into railroad ties.

Stella-Jones was also cited for 12 serious violations, including failure to:

cover openings in the conveyor where employees could step into machinery
provide machine guards on a conveyor and saw
conduct inspections of energy control procedures
develop lockout/tagout procedures to prevent unplanned energizing of the machine while it was being serviced, and
evaluate the ability to respond to a rescue if needed.

The remaining three violations were classified as other-than-serious.

Due to the willful violation and the nature of the hazards, OSHA has placed Stella-Jones in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program which requires follow-up inspections.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to decide whether it wants to appeal.

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Tags: caught in machine, crushed to death, Severe Violator Enforcement Program

One Response to “Worker caught in machine, then crushed to death; $120K OSHA fine”

VS Says:
March 18th, 2012 at 10:27 am
These are the ones that drive me crazy when I read them. My questions would be, who removed the doors? Has there ever been any Near Misses involving this machinery? How visible was that sign? Was Lock-out Tag-out possible? What was the general safety culture of the work force?
I’m considering that maybe the employees themselves took the doors off in an effort to make the job easier, maybe. If so, that may be why they ignored the warning sign. It’s impossible to protect people from themselves, yet as a supervisor, it is your moral responsibility to ensure they have the information and training to know the right way to do things. And if you don’t want to do it because it’s morally right, consider that you as the manager or owner of that business are going to be hit financially for the actions of your employees. You should audit and fix any shortcomings or we’ll be reading about you soon.