Two employees required fingertip amputations at a manufacturing facility in Pennsauken Township this year. The amputations happened after the manufacturing company’s management failed to adhere to warnings that machine guards needed to be installed in order to reduce the chances of such injuries.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the manufacturing company Aluminum Shapes has been a part of an ongoing OSHA investigation since last April following a reported amputation. At that time, a female employee needed to have her middle finger amputated after her hand was crushed inside a rolling machine.

During OSHA’s ongoing investigation two additional workers suffered injury. One suffered an injury to the thumb and the other needed to have a fingertip amputated. Following completion of the investigation, OSHA issued citations to Aluminum Shapes for two repeat violations and one serious violation. The violations involved the company’s failure to report the first amputation within a 24-hour time frame and its failure to install machine guards. The company was also fined $89,390 following its investigation.

In spite of the OSHA sanctions, a company spokesman said that the manufacturing firm is dedicated to the safety of its employees, and it has already spent 700 hours to upgrade safety guards and install new ones. The spokesman further claimed that Aluminum Shapes had hired consultants and safety coordinators to train new staff about safety topics.

Injured manufacturing workers in New Jersey can seek money to pay for medical care related to their on-the-job injuries by filing a workers’ compensation claim. Sometimes, though, workers’ compensation claims can be complicated or difficult to pursue. In which cases, injured workers can get in touch with a workers’ compensation attorney to assist in the pursuit of their claims.

Source: nj.com, “Workers lose fingers at manufacturer with bad safety record, feds say,” Rebecca Everett, Oct. 07, 2016