THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603110077
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
An Albemarle County company where a worker lost part of his hand in an accident faces $12,000 in fines in connection with the accident, and state documents show the plant has a record of safety violations.
Roger Payne, 19, of Crozet, lost 2 1/2 fingers Jan. 3 when his hand became caught in a press-brake machine at Acme Design Technology Inc. The machine uses a heavy metal plate to bend metal.
Payne said the emergency lever that could have freed him didn't work, forcing fellow employees to break the machine to remove his hand.
The state Labor and Industry Department cited the 100-employee cabinet manufacturer for not having federally required safeguards to prevent fingers from becoming trapped. Officials also said the company did not regularly inspect the machines to make sure that all parts work and that it failed to comply with regulations mandating that it periodically retrain workers to use the equipment.
Just three weeks before Payne's accident, the state fined Acme Design Technology more than $1,800 for violating safety standards.
According to documents obtained from the labor department, the fine came in the wake of two fires at the plant two months earlier.
A state inspector found that for two years Acme operated an industrial oven with its automatic sprinklers turned off. Twice in October, the oven set the building's tar roof on fire.
The inspector also found that no automatic sprinklers were installed in some areas where federal law requires them, and that heavy deposits of combustible material coated walls, fixtures and a stairway.
Acme also paid $3,200 for unspecified but serious violations in 1993, according to documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The accumulation of violations and fines - $17,000 in two and a half years - suggests that Acme needs to improve its safety program, said Dick Crawford, director of the department's safety compliance division. ``With that many violations over a three-year period, somebody's not paying attention,'' Crawford said.
A company official disagreed. ``We're working on this as quickly as we can as resources are available,'' said Brad Helman, environmental and maintenance supervisor with Acme.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT by CNB