Cambridge candy company fined after machinery severs worker’s fingertip
A Cambridge candy factory that manufactures Tootsie Rolls is facing a $46,000 fine from the Occupation Safety & Health Administration after a candy-wrapping machine severed a worker’s fingertip.
Cambridge Brands Inc., a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Tootsie Roll Industries Inc., allegedly failed to follow federal safety and health standards, which may have prevented the temporary worker from losing the tip of their index finger in January, according to an OSHA release.
The violations included failing to guard moving parts of a candy-wrapping machine from contact with workers and neglecting to adequately train employees about mechanical and noise hazards as well as proper safeguards. OSHA also alleges that the factory didn’t certify that it performed regular inspections of energy control procedures, and failing to do so could have led the machinery to start unintentionally during periods of maintenance.
In addition to the $46,000 levied against Cambridge Brands, OSHA has also charged MJR, a Boston staffing company also known as Snelling Staffing Services that supplied the temporary worker to the factory, a $9,000 penalty.
“Both employers had a responsibility to adequately train temporary workers about hazards and safeguards associated with their work duties and both failed to do so,” Anthony Covello, OSHA’s area director for Middlesex and Essex counties, said in a statement. “We found that the temporary workers did not receive the same level of training as permanent employees at Cambridge Brands. Adequate and effective training is essential so employees can identify and avoid work-related hazards and injuries.”
The violations weren’t the first of their kind for the national company — Tootsie Rolls Industries was cited in 2010 and 2014 for similar hazardous situations resulting from a lack of proper machine guarding in its Chicago factory, the release said.
Both Cambridge Brands and MJR also failed to comply with OSHA regulations that require employers to report injuries that lead to hospitalization or amputation within a 24-hour period, according to the release.
Each of the companies has 15 business days to pay the penalties or contest the OSHA investigation’s findings.
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