The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations against Global Pyrotechnic Solutions Inc., a Missouri-based fireworks manufacturer, for safety violation. This action comes in response to an explosion at the company’s plant in Dittmer earlier this year. The explosion injured three employees with burns, sending them to a local hospital.
Two of the workers had serious burns but were released shortly after receiving treatment. The third employee was hospitalized for nearly three weeks while his third-degree burns were treated.
OSHA cited the organization for not properly protecting their employees against the hazardous materials they work with every day. This lack of protection is what ultimately led to the explosion. Factors such as improper handling, improper storage and poor ventilation of the workspace are what led to the accident that left the three employees filing for Missouri workers’ compensation benefits.
Global Pyrotechnic Solutions Inc., which has 20 employees, was also cited for failing to properly train their workers on best practices when handling the dangerous chemicals. Some of these serious practices that the company failed to train on include lockout and tag-out programs to adequately control hazardous substances, monitoring machines and their usage, and making prompt repairs to electrical shorts. Failing to do this played a role in what led the explosion to happen.
Other less-serious safety violations include inadequate warning signs and improper transportation of hazardous supplies. These were not considered to be factors in the explosion but were important citations that could have led to other accidents in the future.
Following the recent citation, Global Pyrotechnic Solutions Inc. had 15 days to make changes to their practices based on the citations.
The staff and attorneys at Castle Law Firm of Kansas City send our best wishes as the three employees injured in this dangerous accident recover.