OSHA Fines Georgia Sawmill $267,300 After Demise of Employee

A Georgia sawmill might have prevented the demise of a 24-year-old employee final 12 months if it had adopted security procedures and federal rules, the U.S. Occupational Security and Well being Administration stated in fining the mill $267,300.

“We realized that Thompson Hardwoods added new gear to extend manufacturing however didn’t mitigate potential hazards earlier than permitting employees to service and preserve the brand new gear,” OSHA Performing Space Director Audrey Windham stated in a press release.

The employee, whose identify was not launched, was clearing a jam inside a wooden chipper when the machine was turned on. An OSHA investigation discovered that the mill in Hazelhurst had not skilled employees on lockout/tagout procedures that may forestall hazardous gear from being energized on the incorrect time.

“Employees dealing with any equipment could also be severely or fatally injured when all sources of vitality should not eliminated,” Wyndham stated.

OSHA citied Thompson Hardwoods, which is owned by Delaware-based BeasleyJohnson Holdings, for willful, repeat and critical violations of security rules. The corporate has two weeks to contest the findings.

Sawmills have lengthy been thought-about one of the crucial hazardous work websites. An analogous deadly incident occurred at a Pollard Lumber Co. mill in Appling, Georgia, in February, based on native information reports. A 63-year-old employee was killed inside a wooden chipper on the mill.

In Alabama, OSHA fined a Phenix Metropolis mill nearly $2.5 million in February after the demise of a 67-year-old employee, the second fatality in three years.

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Workers’ Compensation
Georgia