Company where man lost arms is cited over safety rule
The Jeffersontown company where a man lost both arms in a drywall shredder in January willfully violated a "serious" safety rule and will be fined a total of $88,500, a state agency has ruled. The findings of the Kentucky Labor Department should help William "Billy" Parker if he sues his former employer, Six Sigma Inc., a machine manufacturing company, according to attorneys who specialize in workers' compensation law. The lawyers said the finding is extremely rare. And they say it could prompt a reexamination of a state law that says employees can successfully sue employers for a workplace injury only if they can prove the company deliberately intended for them to be harmed. The company has 15 days to contest the citations, which were issued May 31 and June 6. The Courier-Journal reported May 19 that no employee in Kentucky has ever successfully sued an employer for injuries suffered on the job. The department found that Six Sigma committed a "willful serious" violation by failing to have procedures for locking out electricity to the shredder, as well as lathes and mills throughout the shop, while they were under repair. That put 30 employees at risk, including Parker, who was critically injured, the citation said. If the citation stands, the company would pay a $56,000 fine for that violation alone.
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