BRT receives six OSHA violations, fined $28,000

By Kalea Hall

khall@vindy.com

NILES

The Occupation Safety and Health Administration says a fatal crushing incident last August at a manufacturer here could have been prevented.

Daniel Banks, 49, was crushed to death Aug. 5 after he reached into an extrusion press to remove unprocessed aluminum parts at BRT Extrusions Inc. on North Main Street.

OSHA cited BRT with six “serious” violations because of the incident and proposed $28,000 in penalties against the company.

The violations were for exposing workers to dangerous machinery and hazards. An OSHA violation is noted as serious if death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

The company also received a citation for a lack of machine guards that help to ensure workers are not exposed to dangerous moving parts of machinery.

“We will continue to cooperate with OSHA, and we ask the community to continue to keep the family in their prayers,” said James Metheny, human resources/safety manager for BRT.

OSHA said the company, which manufactures aluminum-extrusion components and employs about 200 workers, failed to ensure the machine’s power was fully off and would not turn on during maintenance. This process is known as lockout/tagout.

The Leavittsburg man, who had worked at the plant since 2009, was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital by ambulance after the accident and later died.

Dr. Joseph S. Ohr, deputy coroner for Mahoning County, determined Banks died as a result of head, neck and chest fractures.

“This death was preventable. BRT Extrusion should have properly trained their workers on lockout/tagout and ensured the extrusion press had adequate guarding,” said Brigitte Frank, OSHA’s acting area director in Cleveland. “Failure to protect employees from dangerous machinery all too often leads to catastrophic injury or death. These violations are among the most frequently cited by OSHA.”

OSHA’s investigation found that the press was placed in automatic mode by a supervisor while employees were on a lunch break. The press was not placed on “locked out” status to prevent unintentional cycling, OSHA said.

BRT has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference or contest the findings.

OSHA has conducted previous investigations at BRT Extrusions. In 2007 and 2009, OSHA cited the company for machine-guard violations.