OSHA fines Houston machinery rebuilder more than $155K for continuing to expose workers to amputation, other hazards

Employer names: Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders Inc.
Houston, Texas

Citations issued: Sept. 28, 2016

Investigation findings: On Aug. 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted a follow-up inspection of Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders and found the company did not address violations from February 2016. The company was still exposing workers at the machinery repair shop to struck-by and amputation hazards. Inspectors also found workers operating dangerous machinery that was without proper safety guards, was not secured properly and lacked required energy-control devices used to disable potentially hazardous machinery. Two citations were issued one serious, and one failure to abate violation.

Proposed Penalties: $155,139

Quote: “Workers exposed to machinery without proper guarding are in jeopardy of losing a limb or even a life. Failing to adhere to this safety requirement will not be tolerated,” said Joann Figueroa, OSHA’s area director in the Houston North office. “Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders is responsible to find and fix hazards in the workplace.”

Link to the citations:

• https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/MachineryMaintenanceRebuildersInc_1116352.pdf
• https://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/MachineryMaintenanceRebuildersInc_1116380.pdf

Information: Machinery Maintenance Rebuilders 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 Houston North office at 936-760-3800. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.