Not an “accident”: Rick Simer, 64, suffers fatal work-related injury in Denver, CO [The Pump Handle]

Rick Simer, 64 suffered fatal traumatic injuries on Tuesday, August 9 while working at KBP Coil Coaters. The Denver Post reports:

• “he was caught in an aluminum splitter machine.”

The company’s website says:

• “KBP Coil Coaters, Inc. is a leader in supplying pre-painted aluminum and steel coil, using state of the art coil coating equipment and methods. KBP rigorously tests and certifies every coil before it leaves our coil coating facility.”

Using OSHA’s on-line database, I did not find a record of any OSHA inspections at the KBP Coil Coaters, at least dating back to 2006.

The AFL-CIO’s 2016 Death on the Job report notes:

• OSHA has 25 inspectors in Colorado to cover more than 154,000 workplaces.
• With that number of inspectors, it would take 124 years for OSHA to inspect each workplace in the State just once.
• The average penalty for a serious violation in Colorado is $1,821 (FY 2015 data)
• The median penalty amount for a work-related fatality occurring in Colorado is $7,078 (FY 2015 data).

OSHA has until early February 2017 to issue any citations and penalties related to the incident that stole the life of Rick Simer. It’s likely that OSHA will determine that his death was preventable. It was no “accident.”