{"id":14524,"date":"2015-09-01T05:11:02","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T09:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/?p=14524"},"modified":"2021-07-10T07:38:29","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T07:38:29","slug":"primex-plastics-corp-issued-22-violations-faces-more-than-141k-in-osha-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atlantictraining.com\/blog\/primex-plastics-corp-issued-22-violations-faces-more-than-141k-in-osha-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Primex Plastics Corp. issued 22 violations, faces more than $141K in OSHA penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aug. 31, 2015<\/p>\n

2 workers suffer amputations in separate incidents, less than 2 weeks apart,\ndue to Oakwood, Georgia, plastic manufacturer’s safety failures\nPrimex Plastics Corp. issued 22 violations, faces more than $141K in OSHA penalties<\/em><\/strong><\/center>OAKWOOD, Ga.<\/b> – In separate incidents less than two weeks apart, two employees sustained disabling injuries at Primex Plastics Corp. in Oakwood. Both workers had their middle and ring fingers amputated as they removed material jammed in shearing machines that cut plastic.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the plastics manufacturer on Aug. 27, 2015 for two repeated, 18 serious and two other-than-serious safety and health violations. Proposed penalties total $141,100.<\/p>\n

After learning of the Feb. 28, 2015, amputation, OSHA immediately opened an investigation in March. During OSHA’s inspection, company officials told the inspectors that a second amputation had occurred the night before on a similar machine.<\/p>\n

“Worker safety, not profits, must be a company’s priority,” said Bill Fulcher, OSHA’s director of the Atlanta-East Area Office. “Unfortunately, it took two amputations for Primex to address known safety hazards at this facility.”<\/p>\n

OSHA issued repeated citations for failing to provide workers exposed to high temperatures with protective equipment, and for storing together oxygen and acetylene cylinders. The agency cited Primex previously for similar violations in December 2014 at its New Jersey facility.<\/p>\n

The agency cited serious citations for the following issues:<\/p>\n