OSHA investigating at R.H. Sheppard Co.

What a terrible thing for this gentleman to go through. I pray for his recovery and his mental ability to over come such a tragic event.

Wishing a very speedy recovery for the gentleman and any of his coworkers who had to experience this tragic event.

Interesting that they only have to investigate fatalities or multi-victim incidents. I'm not sure i knew that...
This would seem to warrant an investigation if only to step up safety protocols (if necessary).

Yes, I thought it bizzare that OSHA learned of this incident through the media. That seems very wrong to me.

My thoughts and prayers go out to this man, his family and the friends who witnessed this awful event. God bless you and heal you!

Jennifer from the Block wrote:

Yes, I thought it bizzare that OSHA learned of this incident through the media. That seems very wrong to me.

OSHA is known to monitor and keep ears open for this type of thing as they happen. They would rather show up un-announced to the scene and inspect immediately rather than wait for the company to call and annouce and incident happened. Allows for a more thorough report based on actual conditions, rather than conditions days or weeks after it happened.

Doesn't R. H. Shepard, Inc. practice LOTO (Lock Out, Tag Out) when maintenance is performed on machinery within its operation. This is a practice that saves lives and limbs. So sad that the poor man has lost his arm. My husband's uncle lost an arm in an industrial accident, and it was a life changing incident for him.

Dolly wrote:

Doesn't R. H. Shepard, Inc. practice LOTO (Lock Out, Tag Out) when maintenance is performed on machinery within its operation. This is a practice that saves lives and limbs. So sad that the poor man has lost his arm. My husband's uncle lost an arm in an industrial accident, and it was a life changing incident for him.

Everyone automatically assumes the company is at fault....I'm sure they do have a LOTO procedure, does that mean no one ever breaks the rules? I'm not saying that it was this guys fault...BUT, I can promise you this...most of the time major accidents happen it's due to someone NOT following proper procedure. Not sure what happened here, but I can tell you at my work we've had a couple accidents that would appear to the companies fault...but in the end.....it was the employee's not doing what they have been trained to do. Just saying....

Missing the point wrote:

<quoted text>
OSHA is known to monitor and keep ears open for this type of thing as they happen. They would rather show up un-announced to the scene and inspect immediately rather than wait for the company to call and annouce and incident happened. Allows for a more thorough report based on actual conditions, rather than conditions days or weeks after it happened.

Thanks that makes alot of sense. I have worked in a few factories early in my years and have seen some quick cover ups involving accidents. Thanks for pointing out that fact.

I heard all the sirens as the emergency vehicles passed my house yesterday morning. I wondered what was going on that was causing such a big stir at only 5:45am. I am saddened to hear of this terrible accident. I pray for this man, for his recovery, and for his future. I will also be keeping his family in my prayers and they begin to help a loved one recover.

Also as respect for this man, his family, and the situation, let's keep negative comments off here, that way evening sun keeps the forum up. Most would just like to post their comments to pay respect.

Life changing - you betcha! There are so many different prosthesis they have developed now - hopefully this man will be able to get a high tech arm. It will never take the place of the real one tho.

Yes, they do have LOTO. However, sometimes in order to do some maintenance on some equipment, a machine must run to see if the adjustments made, worked. Apparently none of us were there, so none of us know exactly what happened. Sounds like there was a team there with him working on the equipment so there could have been a number of circumstances. Could it have been a miscommunication, could he have slipped and and end up getting his arm caught when trying to grab onto something to catch himself. I guess we won't know for sure until the investigation is done and all involved are interviewed by OSHA. Thoughts and prayers to all involved, especially the gentleman who sadly lost his arm. Praying for a speedy recovery, physically and emotionally.

Can someone please educate me on this. If you are working on machine and some thing goes wrong wouldn't saftey guards interrupt? Could it be that the machine saftey guards malfunctioned or were not present? Or is this a machine that didn't have guards? I would like to see as i'm sure we all would that R.H Sheppard is assisting this family with what ever they need to get them through this hardship. This is a very sad story. My heart goes out to this man. Bless your soul. My heart aches for this hard working man (that I never met)!

WTH wrote:

I heard all the sirens as the emergency vehicles passed my house yesterday morning. I wondered what was going on that was causing such a big stir at only 5:45am. I am saddened to hear of this terrible accident. I pray for this man, for his recovery, and for his future. I will also be keeping his family in my prayers and they begin to help a loved one recover.
Also as respect for this man, his family, and the situation, let's keep negative comments off here, that way evening sun keeps the forum up. Most would just like to post their comments to pay respect.

I hope you didn't take my comment as negative shot at this man. That was NOT my intention. Just everyone jumps to conclusions and accuses the compnay right away....I don't know what happened and neither do any of the people commenting about the company not having proper procedures. I wish the guy well and a speedy recovery, I just hate seeing blame thrown around before proven.

Sorry for the worker but ALL accidents are preventible

"Not so fast" my comment wasn't direct at anyone. I was just saying as a general statement. People like to get on here an start rumors and be cruel. That usually leads to the Evening Sun removing the forum for certains articles. Again not directed at you or anyone else. I just know that a lot of people probably want to pay respect to this gentleman and his family.

Neal wrote:

Sorry for the worker but ALL accidents are preventible

Neal - Not ALL accidents are preventable...machinery is known to malfunction despite being well-maintained and the workers following all safety precautions. You can never be totally prepared for something completely unexpected to happen. THINK BEFORE you post!

Im me wrote:

Can someone please educate me on this. If you are working on machine and some thing goes wrong wouldn't saftey guards interrupt? Could it be that the machine saftey guards malfunctioned or were not present? Or is this a machine that didn't have guards? I would like to see as i'm sure we all would that R.H Sheppard is assisting this family with what ever they need to get them through this hardship. This is a very sad story. My heart goes out to this man. Bless your soul. My heart aches for this hard working man (that I never met)!

I'm not saying this is the case, but safety guards/switches can easily be tripped out. In my experience, lock out tag out is only something presented in videos and not actually practiced. Safety is always a concern but sometimes the procedures aren't practical. Neither is losing an arm though.

Neal wrote:

Sorry for the worker but ALL accidents are preventible

You sound like someone in management.

WTH wrote:

"Not so fast" my comment wasn't direct at anyone. I was just saying as a general statement. People like to get on here an start rumors and be cruel. That usually leads to the Evening Sun removing the forum for certains articles. Again not directed at you or anyone else. I just know that a lot of people probably want to pay respect to this gentleman and his family.

Cool, I was hoping it wasn't taken like that....thanks for replying. I do feel bad for the guy, has to suck big time! Wish him well. Just hate to see the Employer always take the heat when many times they do provide training and it's up to the empolyee's to then follow the policy and training.

AGAIN, I am not saying that this was the case in this situation....