Safety mechanisms would have prevented worker's death

Employer name: Endicott Clay Products, Endicott, Nebraska

Citations received: Oct. 6, 2015

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Omaha Area Office cited the Endicott brick manufacturing plant for three serious safety violations, after a 41-year-old worker was fatally crushed in a machine on June 16, 2015.

The worker was crushed by a brick setting machine when it operated as he was retrieving bricks that had been drying in the kiln. The machine did not have required safety guards installed.

OSHA inspectors also found inadequate safety guards on belts exposed workers to dangerous operating parts of machinery, and missing railings on the brick setting machine platform exposed them to fall hazards.

Quote: "This was a sad and preventable incident. Machine safety guards would have prevented this worker's death," said Jeff Funke, OSHA's area director in Omaha. "Employers must protect their workers from operating parts of machinery by installing and maintaining safety mechanisms that prevent them from coming in contact with operating parts of machinery."

Proposed Penalties: $15,300.

View Citations: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151953fs.pdf