Norfolk, NE – MP Global Products LLC faces $244,000 in fines and has been placed on OSHA’s severe violator list after allegedly concealing an entire production line and possibly a group of employees during an OSHA inspection.
OSHA Investigators said they found several machines throughout the facility that lacked safety guards, exposing workers to potential injury. They also said they found numerous electrical safety hazards, including exposed electrical wires and damaged electrical boxes
MP Global Products has been cited for more than two dozen safety violations, including two willful and 22 serious violations after a 65-year-old temporary worker last spring caught his left hand in a machine, amputating one finger and severely injuring another, federal authorities said
During the investigation, the Norfolk (NE) flooring company allegedly attempted to conceal hazardous equipment and threatened workers with dismissal if they expressed safety concerns to federal inspectors. OSHA representatives were investigating an accident that resulted in the loss of a worker’s finger.
When inspectors arrived at MP Global Products LLC, the company allegedly “shut down an entire production line, turned the lights off and herded employees into the backroom where they were instructed to remain quiet during OSHA’s inspection,” Jeff Funke, OSHA’s Omaha director said. Funke alleged the company’s actions were a “willful attempt to prevent inspectors from discovering numerous machine safety violations in the plant.”
Al Collison, the company’s founder, owner and president, said the firm plans to dispute OSHA’s claims when it meets with authorities Sept. 15. “There are a lot of allegations that are not accurate,” he told The World-Herald. “That particular line was not running that day. We did not ‘herd’ people into another room. We don’t have environments dangerous to employees. We’ve been in business for 40 years.”
MP Global uses recycled materials to manufacture products for use beneath laminate, tile and hardwood flooring.
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