An investigation by OSHA found a Dudley, Massachusetts contract packager failed to inform the agency as required that a temporary worker needed hospitalization after he sustained a serious injury on May 26, 2016. Even worse, the employer failed to contact emergency medical services immediately when the injury occurred.
The temporary worker at Shield Packaging Co. Inc. - which fills, packages and ships aerosol containers - was on a production line where a gas head injects chemicals into aerosol cans. The employee, who had not received sufficient training, was cleaning a gas head when the production line activated unexpectedly. The gas head needle pierced his finger and injected him with a propellant gas which inflated his arm.