Polyplex USA LLC: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 12, 2020: Employee is severely burned during line break

At 11:45 a.m. on August 12, 2020, an employee was pulling on a dosing nozzle to remove it from an isolated line between two reactors. A coworker had closed the two hand valves to isolate the line, drilled a hole up into the drain valve discharge opening to unplug the monomer that had solidified in the line due to valve leakage, and attempted to open the drain valve but could not get it to open. The employee said he saw a resin drain from the line then waited about 45 minutes to an hour before breaking the line. Another coworker had removed the flange over the nozzle and attempted to pull the nozzle out of the line but had to take a break due to overheating. The employee was only wearing heat gloves and an aluminized hood with a face shield when they took over to try to pull on the nozzle. When the nozzle came unstuck, the employee was sprayed with the monomer consisting of approximately 85% Terephthalic Acid and 15% Ethylene Glycol, Polyester Grade and at a temperature of approximately 500 degrees F, or 260 degrees C. The employee was admitted and treated at the hospital for third degree burns running along the right forearm and second degrees burns to the stomach and knee.

Incident on Jan 25, 2020: Employee slips and amputates finger on grinder blade

At 12:15 a.m. on January 25, 2020, Employee #1, a temporary employee, was loading scrap material that fed into an offline grinder located in a pit/basement. He normally loaded scrap into a different grinder. Employee #1 overloaded the offline grinder and caused it to jam. Employee #1 notified an operator and asked the operator to open the grinder so Employee #1 could remove the wedged plastic sheets. The operator agreed and opened the grinder. Part of the jam removal process requires using a two-inch by four-inch board to manually rotate the grinder blades to ensure they can rotate freely. While rotating the grinder blades, Employee #1 slipped and hit his hand against the blade. He sustained amputation of his fingertip and was hospitalized.

Incident on Mar 24, 2018: Employee is struck by lift table in chest and fractures ribs

At 9:30 p.m. on March 24, 2018, an employee was working underneath a lift table that was connected to a conveyor. The employee fractured five ribs when the lift table fell down and struck him in the chest. The employee was hospitalized.