Vest Inc: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Mar 16, 2006 (fatal): Employee is killed by unguarded slitting machine

At approximately 12:25 p.m. on March 16, 2006, Vest Incorporated, a welded steel tubing manufacturer, located in Los Angeles, California, employed a temporary w orker. East-West Staffing, a personnel agency, provided temporary workers for th e company. The employee was supervised by a manager of Vest Inc., and was assist ing in the slitting machine operation (Loopco slitting line machine Number S41, Serial Number 604011870D). The employee was aligning the cut metal coil material on the recoiler, as it rotated during the beginning production stage. The slitt er machine operator was at the main control position operating the recoiler. Dur ing the work process, the employee inadvertently got caught in the pinch point b etween the revolving cut steel metal sheets as the recoiler mechanism rotated. T he employee was killed and was transferred to the Los Angeles County Coroner's o ffice. An investigation revealed that the recoiler and the cut metal coil materi als were unguarded.

Incident on Nov 20, 2001: Employees finger amputated after being pinched by tubing

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on November 20, 2001, Employee #1, a machine operator , age 25, employed by Today's Temps located at 4755 E. Slauson Ave., Suite #2, M aywood, CA 90270, sustained a crushing injury to his left hand which ultimately resulted in an partial amputation of his left index finger. The injury occurred at Vest Inc. located at 6023 Alcoa Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90058. Employee #1 was attempting to manually maneuver an oversized tubing from the conveyor system to a cutting machine nearby so exact size cannot be obtained. A fully loaded truck parked nearby got in the way so the tubing became stuck. Employee #1 was trying to unjam the tubing by pulling the tubing backward and in the process the tubing slid back and pinched his left index finger. A coworker, the witness, was appro ximately 30-ft away in clear view, when Employee #1 got injured. The tubing meas ured 7 in. by 7 in. square and 0.1875 in. in thickness. There were overhead cran es available at the work place but were only used when loading materials onto fl atbed trucks, or if tubing needs to be relocated to another location. It was a c ommon practice to adjust the tubing while being transported on the conveyor syst em to ensure they are flowing smoothly. It was unclear to the injured employee w hether or not he could maneuver those tubing with sharp edges since he had never been told not to. The injured was taken to San Francis Medical Center for emerg ency treatment by paramedics. Surgery was later performed on Employee #1 to repa ir his wound. Employee #1 had only been an employee of Vest Inc. for about 14 da ys before the accident. The injured employee had never been trained since his hi red date.

Incident on Aug 4, 2000: Employee's toe amputated by powered lift table

At approximately 10:56 a.m. on August 4, 2000, Employee #1 was pulling tubing on to a lift table at the cu-off end of mill #2. He and three coworkers were taking turns operating the east section of the lift table, driving the forklift, pulli ng 20 ft-long square tubing onto the lift table, and bundling 64 metal tubes tog ether. As he was pulling tubing onto the lift table, Employee #1 saw that some t ubing, after being cut from the mill, was shooting slightly outside the backstop of the east lift table. To redirect the tubing properly, he stood on top of the west lift table, with his right foot partially under the west end of the east l ift table, and pushed the tube endings onto the east lift table. Employee #1's r ight foot was still under the lift table when the operator at the east end lower ed the lift table to accommodate more tubing, crushing his foot. He screamed for help and the coworker immediately raised the lift table, enabling him to withdr aw his foot. Employee #1 removed his safety boot and found his second toe had be en partially amputated and was hanging off his foot. He sat close to the equipme nt and waited for paramedics, who transported him to the emergency unit at St. F rancis Hospital. The accident was caused by improper guarding of the table when it was moving. Employee #1 normally worked at mill #4, but on the day of the acc ident he was assigned to mill #2, which was larger. Mill #2 was configured with an alpha flying ram cut-off mill AFR-4004-48-45, serial #177, with four conveyor s. The lift table was 9 in. high at its lowest position and 36 in. high when rai sed. It's travel time between lowest and highest position was 30 seconds, powere d by an internal 2 HP, 440-volt, 3 phase 60 hz power unit.

Incident on Jun 19, 1998: Employee suffers amputation of fingers by milling machine

Employee #1 was using a milling machine to cut down gauge lengths on metal sampl es. After the gauge length had been cut, he needed to measure the gauge to the p recise cutting size. Employee #1 wanted to make sure the machine was cutting the whole sample correctly. While he checked the edge of the sample, he did not see that his glove was too long. The blade of the machine caught the tip of his glo ve and pulled his glove in. Employee #1 could not pull his right hand and glove out and away from the blade. He was able to pull his hand out after he lost his right ring finger and part of middle finger. He was hospitalized for his injurie s.

Incident on Aug 24, 1992: Employee's fingers fractured in jammed debur machine

At approximately 10:25 a.m. on August 24, Employee #1 was feeding a piece of tub e into the deburring machine when the machine jammed. The employee fed another p iece of tubing and the tube cycled. Employee#1 exposed his right hand in the dan ger zone and his right, middle, and ring fingers were caught between the tubes, sustaining fractures and partial amputation. Employee #1 was taken to a hand cli nic, where he was treated and released. He is being treated as an outpatient. Th e employer was advised to oversee employee activities and to ensure safe practic es to prevent any such accident in the future.