SAFETY SOLUTIONS: Have You Really Trained Your Machine Operators

I have been in the safety, health and environmental field for the last 50 years. Early in my career I was a machine operator, then I became an OSHA compliance officer, and worked my way up to being a corporate safety, health and environmental manager for the largest airplane company in the world. I am now a private consultant running my own company, Podojil & Associates, Inc., among other things, I do expert witness work that includes representing companies, and workers who have been injured from unsafe machinery, or from situations where the employer had not provided proper training on the equipment from the manufacturers’ owners’/operators’ manual.

I recently completed work on a multi-million-dollar Lawsuit where a machine manufacturer was mentioned in the litigation. I represented the manufacturer. I was lucky enough to succeed in defending them in the case but and I mean but was the machine ok as far as safety goes? Was their website ok showing their machinery? Were the electrical interlocks on the machine guards the right type? Did the owners/operator’s manual provide the right information? Were the warning placards and symbols the right color, and did it provide the right information and in multiple languages? I had many more questions for this manufacturer.

The answer to these questions was “no”. If you are a manufacturer, and if you have read my news articles, you would know that you should be looking at your own advertising information, or equipment, or at least asking someone with a safety background to help you look at your products.

OSHA is still citing machine guarding and lockout & tagout. Case in point: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration returned to Gerresheimer Glass Inc., in Chicago Heights on Jan. 31, 2024, to verify compliance after inspections in October and December 2022 found workers exposed to machine hazards. OSHA proposed $145,415 in penalties after citing the company with one repeat violation and four serious violations for the following:

• Not training each authorized employee performing and/or assisting with service and maintenance tasks, including mold changes on lines and bottle machines.
• Failing to follow machine specific energy control procedures during a mold change.
• Exposing workers to an unguarded chain and sprocket on a crusher machine.
• Allowing employees to operate forklifts without required training.
• Exposing workers to trip hazards from floor panels in poor repair.

“Ignoring OSHA and industry-recommended machine safety procedures is a leading cause of injuries in the manufacturing industry," explained OSHA Chicago South Area Director James Martineck. "Workers must be trained in specific safety procedures for each machine they operate, or service and they should never be exposed to operating machine parts. Employers are responsible for ensuring safe working conditions for all employees in their facilities.”

When I was a Corporate Manager at Boeing, I told our staff that before you send out information for anyone to see, make sure you look at what you are sending. Are there any unsafe conditions being shown? I look for machinery that is not properly safe guarded, workers not wearing PPE, hot machine surfaces not labeled, tools sitting on top pf machines not secured, materials stored on structures without guardrails or a load rating chart, and even tutorial videos showing unsafe conditions.

We are not trying to pick on anyone. OSHA is becoming tougher, and penalties are getting larger. Next time you are in a large box store, look at how they block off the aisles when they are working in them. Look at how the storage racks are now properly bolted to the floor and the materials are properly secured. Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lOVG1btC3Y&t=391s to see how this came to be the norm. Before that assignment I never knew how many people were being injured in these stores. That assignment changed my life. I hope you take a look at your products, and if we can help, let us know.

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