Denver, CO – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Atlas Metal & Iron Corp. in Denver $58,000 after determining that the death of an employee in Sept 2014 could have been prevented. Failing to lockout the energized baling machine and assess the confined space properly are two of the violations that led to the fatality.
Abel Marmolejo, age 52, was killed as a result of a failure in lockout/tagout procedures – a scrap metal baler reactivated while he was workin
g on it. In the inspection that followed the incident, OSHA investigators found 12 safety violations at the Atlas Metal & Iron Corp. facility. Atlas Metal & Iron operates a scrap metal drop off center for residential recycling.
“Enclosed machinery and unprotected moving parts can be fatal,” said Herb Gibson, OSHA’s area director in Denver. “If Atlas Metal & Iron Corp. had followed simple, well-known safety practices for turning off machinery before allowing employees to work inside, this tragic incident could have been prevented.”
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