Have You Really Trained Your Machine Operators?

I turn 77 this August, and I have been in the safety, health, and environmental field for the last 50 years now. I have been a machine operator early in my working life career, then an OSHA compliance officer, working my way up to being a corporate Safety, Health, and Environmental Manager for the world's largest airplane company in the world. Moving forward, I became a private consultant, owning my own company, Podojil & Associates, Inc. www.podojilconsulting.com, and also doing expert witness work that includes representing companies, but mostly workers who have been injured by working on unsafe machinery, or where the employer has not provided proper training to the equipment manufacturer's owners/operators manuals.

I recently completed working on a multi-million dollar lawsuit where a machine manufacturer was mentioned in the litigation. I represented the manufacturer. I was lucky enough to succeed in defending them in the case, but and I mean but was the machine ok as far as safety goes? Was their website ok showing their machinery? Were the electrical interlocks on the machine guards the right type? Did the owner's/operator’s manual provide the right information? Were the warning placards and symbols the right color, and did they provide the right information in multiple languages? And I had many more questions for this manufacturer.

The answer to these questions was “NO”. And I bet if you are a manufacturer And if you have read the news articles that I have written for David, you should have learned something by now that you should be looking at your own advertising information or equipment, or at least asking us or someone to help you look at yours.

OSHA Enforcement and Recent Case Example

OSHA is still citing machine guarding and lockout & tagout. Case Point: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration returned to Gerresheimer Glass Inc., in Chicago Heights, on Jan. 31, 2024, to verify Compliance after inspections in October and December 2022 found workers exposed to machine hazards.

OSHA proposed $145,415 in penalties after citing the company with one repeat violation and four serious violations for the following:

■ Not training each authorized employee performing and/or assisting with service and maintenance tasks, including mold changes on lines and bottle machines.
■ Failing to follow machine-specific energy control procedures during a mold change.
■ Exposing workers to an unguarded chain and sprocket on a crusher machine.
■ Allowing employees to operate forklifts without required training.
■ Exposing workers to trip hazards from floor panels in poor repair.

"Ignoring OSHA and industry-recommended machine safety procedures is a leading cause of injuries in the manufacturing industry," explained OSHA Chicago South Area Director James Martineck in Tinley Park. "Workers must be trained in specific safety procedures for each machine they operate or service, and they should never be exposed to operating machine parts. Employers are responsible for ensuring safe working conditions for all employees in their facilities."

Industry Experience and Ongoing Concerns

I have been honored to be able to write for David and Plastics Distributor & Fabricator magazine since 1999. I do not know how many times we have offered to help our readers and answer your questions for free, since you advertise in our magazine. When I was a Corporate Manager at Boeing, I always told our staff Before you send out information for anyone to see, make sure you look at what you are sending, and then look again. Are there any unsafe conditions being shown?

You can not blame an editor of a magazine or anyone else if you send them something to post, but an expert like me is always out there looking for information on a lawsuit to represent my client in a litigation case. I look for machinery not properly safeguarded, machinery sitting on broken shipping pallets, workers not wearing PPE, plastic dust flying in the air instead of being poured into covered containers, hot machine surfaces not labeled, tools just sitting on top of machines not secured, materials stored on top of the inside building structures without guardrails or a load rating chart, and even some of your tutorials videos showing unsafe conditions, and I can go on and on.

Closing Thoughts

So, in closing this month's Safety Solutions, we are not trying to pick on our clients, but, after 50 years in this business, I am just trying to show you that we have been here for you for many years, and OSHA is becoming tougher, and penalties are going higher. I do not enjoy working as an expert witness, but someone has to do it.

Next time you are in a Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, Target, Sam's Club, or even a Walmart, look at how they block off the aisles when they are working in them. Look at how the storage racks are now properly bolted to the floor, and the materials are properly secured to prevent them from falling on you or potentially killing you or your loved one.

Want to know how this happened? Well, I was asked to help prevent more children from being killed in these types of shopping environments by Fox News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lOVG1btC3Y&t=391s. Before that assignment, I never knew how many people were being injured in these stores. They are a lot safer now, and that assignment changed my life. I hope you take a look at your products, and if we can help, let me know.