The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated an inspection of the MillerCoors Fort Worth, TX Brewery in January of this year after a worker suffered an amputation of the finger. The agency found that there were willful and serious violations at the site which, if corrected, may have prevented the amputation.

The agency issued a serious violation to the company for failing to ensure that lathes in maintenance shops were equipped with emergency stop controls, which exposed employees to amputation hazards. They received a $7,000 penalty for that citation. They were also cited for failing to guard certain points on lathes while workers were using them for deburring, the agency found several pieces of equipment that were not protected. They received a $70,000 penalty for the willful citation. These kinds of safety guards may have prevented the worker’s finger from being amputated.

The OSHA area director in Fort Worth, Jack A. Rector, said that the company overlooked the safety of workers using that machinery and that they need to do what is necessary to protect employees from workplace hazards.

“MillerCoors completely disregarded the safety of the workers who operate machinery to maintain the equipment in the facility,” he said. “This employer owes it to the many, many consumers who purchase the Miller Brewery’s products to do what was necessary to protect the employees who work hard to produce it from workplace hazards.”