A laminate fabric manufacturer based in New Haven USA is facing severe penalties for not adhering correctly to lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is responsible for the enforcement of LOTO within US territories. Their gaze was set on Uretek Archer LLC after four workers were hospitalised after a dangerous machinery fire.
OSHA found that the firm had not taken adequate steps to prevent the fire by following health and safety regulations, with an array of penalties totalling up to $74000 possibly coming the way of Uretek Archer LLC.
The fire in question was caused when a flammable solvent used to clean machines was ignited due to the presence of residual energy. When investigating, OSHA found that the company had not taken adequate steps to eliminate these ignition sources, nor had they any hazard inspections or protective equipment for workers in place. In addition, they also found that no lockout/tagout equipment was used during the maintenance, which as a result caused the horrible accident.
LOTO procedures ensure that equipment is completely powered down, secured and can’t be operated until maintenance teams are safely away from the machinery. Accidents such as this one can be avoided by enforcing and following a simple lockout/tagout procedure, and – as seen here – not doing so can net you extreme penalties.
"Uretek Archer must ensure that fire alarm systems are operable, machines are properly grounded and protective equipment is available to all employees, among a host of other potentially lifesaving fire precautions," said Robert Kowalski, OSHA's area director in Bridgeport.
