The incident took place in January when an employee at Piggly Wiggly's Bowdon location was asked to clean the commercial meat grinder

NEED TO KNOW

• A Piggly Wiggly supermarket in Georgia received a nearly $200,000 citation from OSHA after a worker’s fingers were severed
• The incident took place in January when an employee at Piggly Wiggly’s Bowdon location was asked to clean the commercial meat grinder
• A co-worker stepped on the machine’s foot-control pedal, which pulled the employee’s hand into the machine and amputated four of their fingers

A Piggly Wiggly supermarket in Georgia received a nearly $200,000 citation from the U.S. Department of Labor after a worker in the store's meat department suffered an amputation of several fingers.

According to the press release from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), published on June 1, a worker at Piggly Wiggly's Bowdon location was asked to clean a commercial meat grinder on Jan. 29.

OSHA said that while the employee was cleaning the meat grinder, a co-worker stepped on the machine's foot-control pedal, "which started the grinder, pulling in the employee's hand and causing the amputation of four fingers."

The supermarket location was cited with "a willful violation for bypassing the machine's safety guards and exposing workers to hazards like moving parts and flying debris."

Piggly Wiggly was also issued a "serious" violation for failing to establish a program for the control of hazardous energy, which comes from "electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal" and other sources in machines and equipment, according to OSHA.

"During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy can result in serious injury or death to workers," the agency states on its website. "Injuries may include electrocution, burns, crushing, cutting, lacerating, amputating, or fracturing body parts, and others."

"Craft workers, electricians, machine operators, and laborers are among the millions of workers who service equipment routinely and face the greatest risk of injury," OSHA adds.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The store also received an "other-than-serious" violation for failing to report the amputation to OSHA within 24 hours.

OSHA has proposed that the store pay $196,251 in penalties, and Piggly Wiggly has 15 business days after receiving the citation to comply or formally contest the findings.

The supermarket and its parent company, C&S Wholesale Grocers, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Source link