Riverside Cement: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Feb 10, 2007: Employee is injured while repairing clinker reclaimer

On February 10, 2007 at the Riverside Cement Company plant located at Oro Grande , California, a carriage wheel assembly on a Clinker Reclaimer failed. An employ ee and a coworker, both maintenance repairmen were called out to repair the asse mbly. Two 30-ton jacks were used to lift the bucket wheel carriage necessary to free the carriage wheel assembly for repair. After finishing the repair around 1 0:00 a.m. the employee started descending the ladder while the coworker remained on top of the reclaimer to bleed down the hydraulic pressure on the two jacks. As the one on the ladder reached the third rung one of the jacks "kicked out" an d suspended by the hydraulic hose, swung down striking the employee on the left side of his face and neck inflicting a laceration of eight inches. He was air-li fted to Loma Linda Medical Center, Loma Linda, CA, where he remained overnight f ollowing surgical repair of the laceration.

Incident on Oct 20, 1998: Employee's leg fractured after walking into hole

Employee #1 and a coworker were loading a tail roller on pallets for storage whe n they ran out of pallets. While driving by the maintenance repair shop, they sa w a brick pallet on a slab at the rear of the building. They stopped the truck a nd went over to pick up the pallet, which was covering a 2 ft in diameter by 5 f t deep hole. As the men stepped toward the truck, Employee #1's right foot fell into the hole. His left leg was fractured when it folded up behind him and struc k the edge of the hole. The slab had recently been poured for use in rebuilding hammermill rotors. Employee #1 and his coworker did not typically work in the ar ea of the plant where the accident occurred.

Incident on Feb 26, 1998: Employee's arm injured when caught in rotating shaft

Employee #1 was using a 1 1/2 in. wide strip of emery cloth to polish the surfac e of a 2 1/2 in. by 60 ft long shaft. The cloth became caught in the chuck and w rapped his right arm around the shaft. Employee #1's body stalled the motor, and he was able to hit the foot-operated OFF/ON switch with his foot. The shop fore man and another machinist untangled Employee #1 from the shaft and provided firs t aid before he was then transported to the company doctor's office.