OSHA Fines Metal Products Maker $122K for Machine-Related Injury

Metal roofing manufacturer and supplier Blac Investments Inc., operating as Tri County Metals, was issued several citations by the US Dept. of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a worker suffered a severe hand injury on a machine at the firm’s Trenton, FL facility. The company faces a proposed fine of $122,879.

A 21-year-old machine operator’s hand was partially amputated on a machine used to cut sheet metal on February 1. The agency initiated an investigation and determined that Tri County Metals allowed protective guards to be removed from the machine because they were causing imperfections on new roofing panels.

“Blac Investments’ management made a conscious decision to remove guards on three machines that exposed workers to dangerous metal shears,” OSHA Area Office Director Michelle Gonzalez in Jacksonville, FL, said in an agency release. “They put profits over their employees’ safety and a young worker is permanently disabled.”

OSHA cited the company for a willful violation for removing the guards and exposing workers to amputation hazards.

Tri County Metals has 15 business days after receiving the citations to comply, contest the findings before an independent panel, or request an informal conference with an OSHA area director.

Blac Investments operates seven roofing materials manufacturing plants in the US.