Manufacturer faces $25K in IOSHA fines
ELKHART — An Elkhart truck cap maker faces nearly $25,000 in proposed penalties for a list of safety violations including shock, burn and laceration hazards.
LTA Manufacturing was assessed $24,850 in proposed penalties for a total of 13 serious and three non-serious violations found during inspections by the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The notification was issued in May following inspections conducted in January at 28564 Holiday Place.
The list includes two violations which carry a $5,600 proposed penalty.
The first involved a hand-fed ripsaw which was not properly guarded. Operators of the 10-inch table saw were exposed to potential lacerations and amputations due to a damaged hood over the blade, which stuck out two inches above the surface of the table, according to the order.
The second involved a lack of safety guards on six-inch cutoff wheels. Employees cutting openings for rails and windows into fiberglass truck caps were exposed to the risk of being struck, according to the order.
The list also includes a serious violation with a $2,600 proposed penalty, involving a 14-inch woodcutting vertical bandsaw without guards for the belts and pullies for the motor. Employees were exposed to the risk of being caught in the machinery, according to the order.
A $1,950 penalty was handed down for a bench grinder which did not have a tongue guard installed at the wheel, exposing employees to potential injury.
Seven violations with a $1,300 proposed penalty were also given. They included serious burn risks due to acetone being stored in a plastic coffee can and multiple 55-gallon drums of acetone and sanding primer being kept outside of a storage room or cabinet.
A plastic garbage can was also being used to dispose of rags soaked in acetone, exposing employees to respiratory irritation.
Other violations involved electrical shock risks. They included a 110-volt flexible cord used as an electrical drop at the aluminum cut station which had the plug cut from the end and was knotted with crumbling insulation.
Shock risks were also found in the use of power strips to plug in items such as fans, a refrigerator, TV, work table lights and cutting machinery. A flexible cord plugged into an outlet rather than fixed wiring was found to be used with a miter saw, according to the order.
Five of the violations were listed with no proposed penalty. They include the lack of anti-kickback devices on a hand-fed ripsaw, exposing employees to the risk of being struck, and an extension cord for a compound miter saw being passed through a wall, which poses a shock hazard.
The three non-serious violations also carried no proposed penalty. Those include a failure to give a medical evaluation and fit test for employees in several areas who use full-face respirators, and a portable fire extinguisher which was not mounted at the identified location outside the paint room.
In most cases the company was given until June 6 to abate the violations that were found.
