Inadequate Guard Leads to Student’s Hand Injury & $60,000 Fine

After a printing press jammed, workers shut it down and engaged a safe button to prevent it from restarting as they looked for the jam. A summer student found a jam in the rear of the press and started to remove it, out of sight of the other workers who’d found another jam in the front. When the workers restarted the press, the young worker’s hand was drawn between two rollers and injured. The MOL found that the area of the press where the incident occurred was protected by a guard, which was inadequate to prevent the worker’s hand from being drawn into the rollers. The company pleaded guilty to a guarding violation and was fined $60,000 [American Color Graphics Inc., Govt. News Release, June 11, 2012].