Kroger butcher loses fingertip in unguarded band saw

Employer name: The Kroger Co.

Inspection site: 3491 N. Bend Road, Cincinnati, Ohio

Citations issued: March 17, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cincinnati area office cited The Kroger Store for one repeat, and one serious safety violation.

OSHA opened an investigation of the grocer after a 65-year-old employee’s left middle finger tip was amputated by a band saw he was operating to butcher meat.

Inspectors found:

• Machine guarding on the band saw was not adequate for the product being cut and improperly adjusted.
• The store lacked an energy isolation program that included specific training and inspections. 

Quote: “Employees working with dangerous equipment such as band saws must be properly trained to prevent injuries,” said Ken Montgomery, OSHA’s area director in Cincinnati. “Common-sense safety standards to prevent workers from coming in contact with operating machine parts.”

Proposed Penalties: $45,500

View Citations here.

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 Cincinnati Area Office at 513-841-4132.