OSHA finds multiple violations at Viking Blast & Wash Systems after metal bar strikes, kills lathe operator

ROSE HILL, Kan. ‒ Safety guards may have prevented a metal bar from striking and killing a 24-year-old lathe operator at a Rose Hill industrial cleaning equipment manufacturer, federal investigators found.

On April 20, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Viking Corporation, operating as Viking Blast & Wash Systems, for 16 serious safety and health violations after its investigation of the operator’s death on Jan. 12, 2016.

“A young man’s life might have been saved if the lathe had been equipped with required safety mechanisms,” said Judy Freeman, OSHA’s area director in Wichita. “Viking Blast &Wash Systems must do more to protect workers on the job. No job is a good job unless it’s a safe job.”

OSHA’s investigation found the rotating one-inch diameter metal bar extended about 34 inches outside the in-feed side of the lathe. During the machining process it became unbalanced and bent. The worker was struck by the bent bar as he approached the lathe.  

The agency found the company failed to:

• Install machine guarding to prevent workers from flying chips and debris.
• Adjust tongue guards on bench grinders.
• Properly store gas and oxygen cylinders.
• Repair damaged welding cables.
• Install fixed wiring.
• Implement a respiratory protection program.
• Determine the 8-hour time weighted average exposure for each employee exposed to hexavalent chromium.
• Provide employees information on the use of hazardous chemicals and materials in the workplace.
• Train forklift operators.

The agency has proposed penalties of $59,000. View current health and safety citations:

Viking Blast and Wash Systems manufactures and distributes a full line of industrial cleaning equipment including abrasive shot blast machines, parts washers and vibratory deburring equipment. This equipment cleans and removes mill scale, dirt, rust and is ideal for the preparation of large numbers or exceptionally complex parts for painting or other finishing operations.

Viking Corporation has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Wichita, or contest the findings 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 Wichita office at 316-269-6644.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.