Melrose Park, Illinois, metal shop exposes workers to machine hazards

Employer name: Alin Machining Company Inc., doing business as Power Plant ServicesInvestigation site: 3131 W. Soffel Ave. Melrose Park, Illinois

Date investigation initiated and what prompted inspection: On March 4, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Chicago North Area Office initiated an inspection after Alin Machining Company reported that a worker had suffered a severe finger laceration while operating a lathe.

Investigation findings: OSHA issued one repeat and one serious safety violation for exposing workers to amputation hazards at the metal shop which manufactures parts for turbines, generators and coal pulverziers.

Investigators found manual lathes lacked adequate guarding which protects workers from coming in contact with rotating parts of the machine. Lack of appropriate machine guarding can cause lacerations, bruises, and amputations. The company was previously cited for this violation in 2013, resulting in the issuance of this repeated violation.

A serious violation was issued to the company for inadequate guards on CNC lathes, including disengaging safety interlocks on doors.

Quote: "Each year thousands of workers are injured which impacts their ability to earn a living because employers like Power Plant Services fail to follow rules for machine safety,” said Angeline Loftus, OSHA's Area Director for the Chicago North Office in Des Plaines.

Proposed Penalties: $42,000

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, losses of an eye, 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 Chicago North Area Office in Des Plaines at 847-803-4800.