MP Global Products LLC exposes workers to fire, amputation hazards

Employer name: MP Global Products LLC, Norfolk, Nebraska

Investigation site: 2500 Hadar Road, Norfolk, Nebraska

After receiving a formal complaint from an employee alleging unsafe working conditions, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Omaha Area Office initiated an inspection on Aug. 5, 2014.

Investigation findings: OSHA's investigation found multiple safety and health hazards at the company which manufactures padding from recycled denim products.

OSHA cited 11 serious violations including:

• Exposing workers to amputation hazards because it failed to adequately guard operating parts of machinery.
• Failing to protect workers from fire, deflagration and explosion hazards because equipment was not approved for hazardous locations. The company also failed to establish a fire brigade.
• Exposing workers to fall hazards of up to 12 feet from unguarded stairs and platforms.
• Failing to properly dispose of regulated waste.

An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exist.

OSHA also cited four other violations for failing to properly record injuries and illnesses in logs, provide respiratory information and electrical safety hazards.

Proposed Penalties: $54,000

Quote: "MP Global must protect its workers from amputation hazards by installing proper guarding which prevents workers from coming in contact with moving machine parts," said Bonita Winingham, OSHA's area director in Omaha. "Comprehensive employer safety and health programs must include employee training on known workplace hazards."

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 Omaha Area Office at 402-553-0171.