Three workers suffered amputation injuries within four months at a Columbiana, Ohio envelope printing facility because their employer failed to protect them from moving machine parts on 26 of the 27 company production lines, a federal inspection found.

Following an OSHA inspection, the agency cited Envelope 1 on Dec. 15 for three willful and four serious violations. Proposed penalties total $88,200.

"When repeated amputation injuries occur at a business, safety is not a priority," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland. "After OSHA initiated its first inspection involving an amputation in June 2015, Envelope 1 failed to take immediate steps to protect workers. If they had, it may have prevented other injuries."

OSHA's investigation found the following:

On June 19, 2015, a machine operator had a finger amputated when it caught in a pinch point of printing section rollers as he wiped a roller. The 52-year-old employee had been employed at the plant for six months.

On Sept. 16, 2015, a 29-year-old employee suffered partial amputation of his left finger as he cleared material from a scoring section of an envelope line. The operator's hands were exposed to operating parts because the machine lacked adequate safety guards.

On Sept. 28, 2015, a 73-year-old worker had part of this thumb amputated as he adjusted rollers during the set up of an envelope printing section.

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