Rock Communications has 2 OSHA inspections on record in Iowa, the first in 1999.
OSHA's last visit started on Sep 17, 2019 on a referral, in Newton.
Across those inspections OSHA issued 1 citation item: 1 serious.
OSHA proposed $9,092 in penalties. After settlements and reviews the total is $6,000, down 34%.
For context, across all manufacturing employers the median penalty per cited inspection since 2015 is $4,500. Rock Communications averages $6,000 over 1 cited inspection in that time.
Rock Communications also files yearly injury logs with OSHA, summarized below.
Citation items per year, by inspection date.
Iowa · latest 90 days of OSHA records
64employers cited
Get notified the morning OSHA posts each new citation in Iowa: the employer, the site address, the rules broken and the penalty.
Incident on Sep 10, 2019: Employee suffers finger amputation when caught in ink folder
At 4:4 a.m. on September 10, 2019, an employee had removed a paper jam from the printing press when the ink needed to be drained out of the folder. To drain the ink, the employee and coworkers began to run paper through the machine onto the floor. During the paper run, the employee accidently stuck his finger into the rollers in the machine. The employee suffered a finger amputation and was treated without hospitalization.
From the Form 300A summaries employers file with OSHA each year. Rate = recordable cases per 100 full-time workers.
In 2025, the Newton site logged 5 recordable injuries or illnesses among about 108 workers: 5.5 per 100 full-time workers, against a median of 2.0 for its industry.
Site and year
Workers
Cases
Days-away cases
Rate
Industry median
Rock Communications LLC
Newton · 2025
108
5
0
5.5
2.0
Rock Communications
Newton · 2016
120
11
2
7.8
2.0
The rules behind these citations
Current text from the Code of Federal Regulations. Some citations were issued under older wording.
(a) Machine guarding—(1) Types of guarding. One or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks. Examples of guarding methods are—barrier guards, two-hand tripping devices, electronic safety devices, etc.
Other commercial printing (except screen and books) employers in Iowa
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Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA enforcement data. A citation is OSHA's allegation; employers can contest it, and the status column shows where each item stands. Something wrong on this page? Tell us.
