Car Parts Manufacturer Fined $80,000 for Lockout Violation

A worker for an auto parts manufacturer was performing maintenance on a machine known as a CNC lathe. The machine was in manual mode, but wasn’t powered off. While the worker was removing the machine’s chuck, it unexpectedly retracted to the back of the lathe, trapping his fingers. A co-worker activated a foot pedal, which released the worker. He suffered injuries, some of them permanent. He’d never been asked to remove the chuck before and hadn’t gotten any training on locking out this machine. The manufacturer pleaded guilty to a lockout violation. The court fined it $80,000 [Linergy Manufacturing Inc., Govt. News Release, Nov. 23, 2016].