A South Elgin metal company has been cited and fined $70,000 by federal regulators after a 21-year-old temporary worker lost six fingers in a gruesome accident.
The worker’s ring, middle and index fingers on both hands and part of his right pinky finger were amputated when his hands became caught as he hand-fed parts into an aluminum press at Custom Aluminum Products on Nov. 4, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The man had worked at the company for just four weeks. The amputation could have been prevented if proper safety guards had been fitted, according to OSHA.
In October 2014, Custom Aluminum Products was cited and fined $6,750 for failing to install safety guards at its Genoa plant, OSHA records state. OSHA inspectors found the company’s failure to fix the problem in South Elgin was “willful” — the worst kind of violation of workplace safety standards.
“It’s hard to imagine the agony and pain this young man suffered when six of his fingers were amputated,” said Jake Scott, OSHA’s area director in Aurora, in a news release. “His life is now forever altered because the press lacked required safe guarding devices. These devices would have prevented his hands from coming in contact with the operating parts of the machine.”
Amputations accounted for a large proportion of severe workplace injuries last year, the first in which employers were required to report hospitalization, amputation or loss of a worker’s eye within 24 hours.
Illinois employers reported 173 amputations in 2015. Nationwide, there were 2,644 amputations, OSHA said.
Custom Aluminum Products executives did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Within the last two years, the company also has been cited for allowing untrained workers to test electrical equipment without proper safety gear and for subjecting workers to unsafe sound levels.
As of Wednesday, no lawsuits connected with the amputation case appear to have been filed in Kane County or federal court.
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