Bas Recycling Inc: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Feb 27, 2008: Employee amputates fingers,aught between pallet and pipe

At approximately 3:45 p.m. on February 27, 2008, Employee #1, a production labor er, and a coworker, a forklift operator, were moving a 24 ft long steel pipe. Th e pipe weighed 75 pounds with 5 in. diameter and they were using KOMATSU, sit-in type fork lift to move it from the storage/ production area to outside the buil ding. After inserting one end of the pipe on the right fork, the coworker picked it up with the fork lift, while the employee was holding the front end with his right hand at an elevation of 39 in. The coworker began driving the fork lift f orward and was maneuvering it when the pipe's front end struck a stack pallet of card boards (dimensions 108 in. high by 68 in. wide by 50 in. thick). The emplo yee's right hand was caught between the pallet and the pipe. Employee #1 right r ing and little fingers were amputated, and he was taken to a local hospital, whe re he was hospitalized.

Incident on Jun 5, 2006: Employee is injured when struck by metal lid

At approximately 7:30 p.m. on June 5, 2006, Employee #1, a new employee of 2.5 m onths, was clearing a jam of shredded tire rubber in the hammer mill by using a metal tube through a small floor opening. The hammer mill lid, which measures 74 -in. by 34-in. by 24-in. and weighing 300 pounds, suddenly fell on his back. He was hospitalized for his injuries.

Incident on Dec 12, 2005: Employee's arm is injured when caught in conveyor belt

On December 12, 2005, at approximately 12:15 pm, Employee #1 was cleaning an inc lined conveyor belt, located inside a hammer mill pit. The employee's right hand and forearm were caught and pulled into the conveyor belt when a production sup ervisor turned the power on. Employee #1 was transported to an area hospital wit h serious crushing injury of his right hand and forearm.

Incident on Oct 25, 2005: Employee lacerates head, face, and arm when truck rolls over

On October 25, 2005, Employee #1 was working for BAS Recycling, which is in the tire recycling industry. He was driving a roll-off truck with two 8-foot wide, 9 -foot tall, and 24-foot long trailer rigs to deliver a full load of scrap tires to the Waste Management, Inc., landfill in Azusa, CA, for processing. After goin g through the gate of the landfill, he was driving down a road with a 12 percent downgrade at approximately 25 to 30 miles per hour, when his brakes failed to h old back the speed. As he attempted to negotiate a sharp curve to the right, the truck and its load rolled to the left and overturned, pinning Employee #1's lef t arm under the cab and trapping him inside the cab. Employee #1 sustained lacer ations to his head, face, and left arm, and he experienced back and chest pain. He was not hospitalized.