DOL Recovers $65,000 Over Teen Worker’s Thumb Tip Amputation

A Pennsylvania manufacturer will pay $14,700 to resolve seven workplace safety violations stemming from a 16-year-old worker’s thumb tip amputation while operating a metal forming machine.

The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration identified amputation and machine-guarding hazards at Fostermation Inc.'s facility in Meadville, according to an agency press release.

It also discovered deficiencies in the company’s lockout/tagout procedures, which prevent machines from accidentally starting. OSHA found six serious and one other-than-serious violations.

Fostermation has already paid nearly $50,000 in penalties to the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division for violating child labor regulations, the agency said.