Trish Bennett, Editor
CIRCLEVILLE – The GE Circleville Lamp Plant faces $88,000 in fines after being cited for two repeated and three serious violations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The citation, issued April 18, states an investigation by the agency’s Columbus area office found the company failed to ensure adequate machine safety guards on conveyor belts and other operating machinery and the use of lockout/tagout procedures to prevent unintentional operation when machines are serviced and maintained.
“GE must implement proper machine safety procedures to avoid a tragic and preventable incident,” said Linda Harrington, acting area director of OSHA in Columbus. “Failure to implement these procedures is among the most frequently cited OSHA violations.”
Harrington said in 2015, Ohio employers reported 266 amputation injuries to OSHA.
“These injuries are preventable by installing machine safe guards and training workers in safety procedures,” she said.
According to the release, the GE Circleville Lamp Plant was cited for the same hazards in 2014. An investigation conducted in December 2015 again found the facility exposed workers to amputation and other serious injuries.
Local officials could not be reached for comment, but Deia Campanelli, a corporate representative of GE Lighting, provided a statement on behalf of the company.
“At GE Lighting, the safety of our employees is a top priority,” Campanelli said. “We are in receipt of OSHA’s notification and are actively reviewing the findings contained in it.”
A copy of the 17-page citation and notice of penalty can be found here.
This article originally appeared on The Pickaway News Journal
