OSHA cites El Paso stamping plant for amputations and other serious safety hazards

Employer name: Stampcoat Inc. doing business as El Paso Tool & Die in El Paso, Texas

Citations issued: Sept. 14, 2015

Investigation findings: A total of 33 citations were issued, 32 of them serious, for safety and health hazards. The violations include failing to properly safeguard workers against caught-between and impact hazards, properly shut down machinery during servicing and maintenance, and train workers on using personal protective equipment such as hearing, hand and respiratory equipment. The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted the inspection under its National Emphasis Program on Amputations after an unguarded machine crushed a worker's index and middle finger and amputated part of his ring finger. During the OSHA inspection, a machine sheared off the tip of another worker's thumb.

Proposed penalties: $119,000

Quote: "For somebody working with a die stamp, a proper machine guard can mean the difference between keeping your fingers or losing them. The violations at this facility led to two workers being permanently injured. OSHA's standards addressing these hazards have existed for decades, and the failure to follow these most basic safety requirements is unacceptable," said Diego Alvarado Jr., OSHA's area director in El Paso.

Link to the citations: https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Stampcoat_Inc_1046944_0914_15.pdf.

Information: Stampcoat, headquartered in El Paso, fabricates stamped metal components for equipment manufacturers and employs about 98 workers. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, 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 amputations, eye loss, 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 El Paso Area Office at 915-534-6251. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.