When federal investigators responded to a report that a mold machine operator at an Ohio foundry suffered a right thumb amputation in February 2023, they learned the company took no corrective action despite knowing that an employee using the same machine avoided similar injury eight months earlier.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found Quality Castings Company in Orrville failed to lockout the core mold machine's operating parts during service and maintenance. The lack of protection allowed the operator's hand to become caught by the rotating mold as they adjusted the machine's flame. The company also failed to guard the machine and did not train workers on safety procedures as required.

OSHA issued one willful and one serious safety violation and proposed $171,884 in penalties.  

"After a near-miss on the same machine eight months earlier, the company should have re-evaluated the core mold machine's operating and safety procedures," said OSHA Area Office Director Howard Eberts in Cleveland. "Doing so could have prevented this worker from suffering a lifelong injury."

Founded in 1933, the Quality Castings Company produces gray iron and ductile iron castings for a variety of industries and employs about 350 workers.

OSHA's machine guarding and control of hazardous energy webpages provide information on what employers must do to limit worker exposures to machine hazards.

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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