Company Fined $70,000 after Pot of Melted Minerals Injures Worker

At a manufacturing facility, minerals had been melted in a furnace and were being poured into pots on a rail car that moved along a track to and from the furnace. A rail car carrying two full and two empty pots passed a moveable conveyor that was on its own tracks. One of the full pots rubbed against the conveyor, tearing off a hose attached to the pot. A worker went to remove the hose from the tracks and the pot tipped off the rail car, striking him. He suffered third degree burns and serious injuries to the torso and hip. The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the pots were transferred in a way that prevented them from tipping or falling. The court fined it $70,000 [Washington Mills Electro Minerals Corp., Govt. News Release, Jan. 20, 2012].