OSHA cites Mount Enterprise, Texas, mobile home manufacturer J.P. Spivey Supply for safety, health violations after two workers suffer finger amputations while cutting material; penalties of US$57,200 proposed

Wendy Lisney

MOUNT ENTERPRISE, Texas , February 16, 2012 (press release) – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Mount Enterprise, Texas-based J.P. Spivey Supply for one willful and 13 serious safety and health violations after two workers had fingers amputated at the company's facility in Mount Enterprise. Proposed penalties total $57,200.

OSHA began its investigation on Aug. 23, 2011, at the company's worksite on U.S. Highway 84 East following a report that two employees had fingers amputated from coming into contact with a moving saw blade while cutting material to be used as blocking and padding in the construction of manufactured homes.

"This company willfully disregarded OSHA's machine guarding requirement for swing cut-off saws, which resulted in two employees suffering amputations," said Stephen Boyd, director of OSHA's Dallas Area Office. "These violations demonstrate an inexcusably lax attitude toward protecting workers from serious and tragic injuries."

The willful violation is for failing to ensure that required machine guarding was provided on swing cut-off saws at the point of operation and all other positions of the saw. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.

Serious safety and health violations include, among others, failing to implement energy control procedures for machinery with more than one energy source, ensure workers were trained on the use of powered industrial trucks, ensure that electrical equipment was approved for locations that contain combustible dust and implement a hearing conservation program to protect workers from excessive noise levels. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

J.P. Spivey Supply, which manufactures bracing and blocking for mobile homes, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's Dallas Area Office or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Dallas Area Office at 214-320-2400.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces 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.

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