OSHA Fines Paper Company $68K after Bag Machine Amputation

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the AJM Packaging Corp. facility in Folkston, GA on Oct. 18 for one repeated safety violation after a worker’s finger was partially amputated this July, the agency announced Thursday. OSHA is proposing penalties of $68,591.

The agency opened an investigation at the paper product manufacturer’s site after a 35-year-old employee’s middle finger was partially amputated as he was refeeding paper into a bag machine on Jul. 27, according to a OSHA press release. The finger on the worker’s right hand was pulled under the feed roller and went into an unguarded slitter blade.

 “AJM Packaging was cited less than a year ago for this same violation and continues to expose workers to laceration and amputation hazards,” said Margo Westmoreland, OSHA area director in Savannah, GA, in a statement. “Employers must evaluate and correct safety and health hazards that expose workers to serious injury or death.”

The facility, which makes paper cups, plates, bowls, and bags, received a repeated citation for failing to develop appropriate safety procedures to safeguard employees from slitter blades on the bag machine. AJM was cited in October 2015 for the same violation, the agency said.