Every industry has its own rules and regulations designed to maintain a safe work environment. This is particularly important for workplaces in California or any other state where heavy machinery is regularly used. These safety requirements help keep workers from being seriously injured by the machinery, which can sometimes lead to disability, severed appendages or even death. Officials are now looking into a recent workplace injury that involved heavy machinery and resulted in one woman being seriously injured.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration is currently investigating the accident in order to determine if there were any violations of safety rules. OSHA says that it plans to look into training provided to workers by the employer to see if the training adequately addressed safety issues. Also, supervision practices and safety protocols will be analyzed in order to determine if the company violated any regulations.
The incident occurred in mid-October when a worker at a potato factory was cleaning around some machinery that is utilized to cut potatoes. Apparently, the woman had four of her fingers severed during the incident. She was immediately taken to a local medical facility in order to receive treatment.
OSHA says the investigation could last as long as six months. The agency can levy fines and take other enforcement action if it finds that the company violated any safety rules. Regardless of whether the employer receives any citations, the injured worker will still be able to file for workers’ compensation benefits in order to help pay for medical bills and provide other financial relief as a result of suffering the workplace injury. Any injured worker in a similar situation in California or any other state is also entitled to pursue claims for financial assistance during this time of need.
Source: potatopro.com, “Worker loses four fingers in workplace accident“, Oct. 23, 2014