August 2, 2016

OSHA fines mobile home trailer axle manufacturer, recycler
for exposing workers to amputations

Employer name: Lone Star Wheel Components Inc.

Inspection site: 3129 East Highway 31, Corsicana, Texas 75110

Citations issued: July 29, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to Lone Star Wheel Components, Inc. for 23 serious violations. The mobile home service provider failed to protect employees from amputation and electrical shock hazards by not covering rotating and extended machine parts properly, and not following lockout/tagout procedures for protection against sudden machine startup. Investigators also discovered the company lacked a written hazardous communication program needed to train employees on the hazardous chemicals. The company also failed to remove unsafe forklifts from service and did not properly train and certify employees operating forklifts.

Proposed Penalties: $54,905

Quote: "Lone Star Wheel is responsible for providing employees with a safe environment," said Jack A. Rector, OSHA's Area Director in Fort Worth. "Necessary procedures and safety training must be implemented at this facility to protect workers from amputations and other preventable injuries."

Link to the citations: http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/LoneStarWheelComponentsInc_1149264.pdf

Information: Lone Star Wheel Components recycles and manufactures mobile home trailer axles and components. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Fort Worth Area Office at 817-581-7303.

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Media Contact:

Chauntra Rideaux, 972-850-4710, rideaux.chauntra.D@dol.gov
Juan J. Rodríguez, 972-850-4709, rodriguez.juan@dol.gov

Release Number: 16-1620-DAL

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