US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AGAIN CITES GREEN BAY CLEANING PRODUCTS MANUFACTURER AFTER WORKER SUFFERS AMPUTATION, FINES COMPANY $194K

GREEN BAY, WI – A federal investigation into how a Tufco LP employee’s fingertip was amputated in August 2023 determined that the Green Bay household cleaning products manufacturer violated federal regulations for the control of hazardous energy during service and maintenance tasks and failed to report the amputation injury, as required.  

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration at Tufco LP found an employee’s fingertip was severed while clearing a pump’s outfeed on Aug. 18, 2023. The employee was part of an overnight crew that was running and maintaining melt tanks used to create scented laundry beads. Safety investigators learned the product lines were not locked out or shut down, exposing the worker to the pumps’ point of operation.

OSHA inspectors determined Tufco LP lacked written lockout/tagout procedures that would have prevented employees from contact with moving machine parts and failed to retrain employees on such procedures when they were re-assigned to a new production area. OSHA also noted a lack of machine guarding and that the plant failed to develop and implement a respiratory protection program. The agency cited the company for exposing workers to similar machine hazards in 2019 and 2021. 

More at source: US Dept. Of Labor

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