Grand Rock Co. Inc. of Painesville, Ohio has been cited by OSHA for one willful and one serious safety violation after a worker suffered the amputation of four fingers on June 12. The employee was operating an unguarded machine that bends tubes at the Painesville automotive parts manufacturer.

"It's unacceptable that Grand Rock Co. failed to provide adequate machine guarding in its facility and that a week after this tragic incident, the machine remained unguarded and in use, exposing other workers to similar injuries," said Howard Eberts, OSHA's area director in Cleveland.

One willful violation was cited for failing to ensure points of operation were guarded on the tube bending machine, which is used to manufacture automotive exhaust systems.

Additionally, one serious violation was cited for failing to develop specific lockout/tagout procedures. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

OSHA has proposed penalties of $52,500.