Kaiser Aluminum: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Apr 21, 2005: Employee's foot is fractured by falling crowbar

At about 2:30 p.m. on April 21, 2005, Employee #1, a 48-year-old manager, was pa ssing by the remelt area, when a coworker, a welder, called him and tried to ask for something. Employee #1 did not understand what the coworker was asking for, since the coworker did not speak English clearly and there was a lot of noise i n the area. He thought that the coworker was asking him for help and Employee #1 took off. The coworker was going to stand on the side plate, which was set on t wo 4 by 4s on each side, at the end of the charge table. The coworker was going to weld it in place. The metal plate weighed approximately 1,200 lbs. The bottom side of the plate measured 16 ft 5 in. Its top side measured 12 ft 3 in. and wa s 2-ft wide, and 1-in. thick. Employee #1 grabbed a piece of a sheet metal bar m easuring 4 ft long by 3 in. wide, and 1 in. thick. He used it as a crowbar to tr y to lift the plate, to accommodate another set of 4 by 4s. While lifting the pl ate, the piece of metal sheet that Employee #1 was using as a crowbar, slipped o ff and the plate came down. The crowbar pushed Employee #1 and knocked him down, falling on Employee #1, who was in a seating position with his left foot under the plate. Employee #1's left foot was slightly turned to the right. Therefore, when the plate came down on his foot, it was forced more to the right, causing a comminuted fracture of his tibia and fibula. Another worker, who was there with the forklift, went to help him. Employee #1 asked him to notify another supervi sor, who then notified the Safety Manager. The Safety Manager drove Employee #1 to an industrial clinic Technimed, where he underwent a surgery and was hospital ized. The causal factor leading to the accident was the fact that Employee #1 wa s not trained how to lift safely and support the metal plate in a manner, which would prevent an inadvertent movement.

Incident on Aug 10, 2000: Employee's fingers crushed in flare test machine

Employee #1 was using a flare test machine to test a hollow aluminum cylinder. T he cylinder sat on the machine's platform, which traveled approximately 10 in. t o 14 in. until it was pressed against a metal cone. After contacting the cone, t he ram continued upward through the hollow of the sample until the sample was ri pped open. Employee #1 was using his right hand to remove the sample from the po int of operation when he slipped on the floor and inadvertently activated the pr ess with his other hand. The press crushed three fingers on his right hand, one of which had to be surgically amputated. Employee #1 was hospitalized for over 2 4 hours for treatment. The flare test machine had no point of operation devices to protect the operator.

Incident on Feb 12, 2000: Employee injured when crushed by punch press

On February 12, 2000, Employee #1, a maintenance worker, was working on a 1650-t on press located in the aluminum extrusion area of the facility. Employee #1 was working on the press in order to repair damaged relay switches. To access the r elay switches for the press, Employee #1 had to climb into the 4-foot well by wh ich the ram for the press passes. Employee #1 failed to lock out the machine and worked on the press while it was still in the automatic mode. When Employee #1 started to work on the relay switches, the press was activated and moved forward , crushing Employee #1 between the crosshead of the press and the loader. A cowo rker who was standing near the operation panel activated the emergency stop swit ch which stopped the press. Employee #1 sustained several rib fractures, a pneum othorax, and a pinched heart, and was hospitalized.

Incident on Dec 7, 1996: Employee's finger crushed in point of operation

At approximately 5:30 a.m. on December 17, 1996, Employee #1, of Kaiser Aluminum Extruded Products, Los Angeles, CA, was manually aligning a piece of aluminum b illet in an unguarded point of operation. The die came down and crushed his righ t index finger. Part of his finger had later to be surgically removed.

Incident on Oct 22, 1994: Employee burned by molten aluminum during explosion

Several employees were assigned to drop molten aluminum into a 7 ft 62 hole mold table in the remelt casting areas. Employee #1 was working next to the mold, wa tching for bleed outs in the holes, which would require plugging. After several bleed outs had occurred, he noticed a bleed out forming in the center of the tab le. He stepped onto the mold table to reach the center, 3 1/2 ft away. While Emp loyee #1 was plugging this bleed out, another hole beneath the employee exploded when either water or air contacted the molten aluminum. Employee #1 was severel y burned on his upper and lower body and required skin grafts. During the invest igation, the following warning was noted: Employees must step onto the 7 ft mold to properly plug bleed outs in the center of the table. The employer did not pr ovide the proper tools to reach this area.