OSHA Cites Texas-Based Company for Safety Hazards Following Worker Accident

Madix Inc. now faces $158,051 in penalties.

Texas-based Madix Inc.—which manufactures metal and wood shelving and displays for retail outlets—has just come under scrutiny following an OSHA investigation into a serious workplace injury.

In a release dated August 22, OSHA revealed the agency identified a series of violations at the company’s Eclectic, Alabama facility. On March 23, 2023, a 20-year-old employee lost three fingers when attempting to adjust a coolant feed line on a tube saw. As he worked, his glove was ensnared, causing his hand to be dragged into the rotating saw blade.

As a result, OSHA cited Madix Inc. for two repeat, three serious and three other-than-serious violations, totaling $158,051 in proposed penalties. These include allowing employees to work on machinery without following lockout-tagout procedures, failure to train workers how to handle automatic tube cutters and leaving unguarded saws exposing workers to potential injury.

“A young man has suffered a life-altering injury simply because the employer failed to install machine guards and make sure to have lockout/tagout procedures in place to disable machinery,” OSHA Area Director Jose A. Gonzalez in Mobile, Alabama, said in a statement. “Madix’s failures in past inspections raise concerns about how seriously the company takes its obligation to provide employees with a safe and healthy workplace.”

Since 2018, OSHA inspections at Madix locations in Alabama and Texas have noted serious violations. In 2019, a similar amputation incident in Eclectic led to OSHA citing the company for three serious violations related to similar machine safeguarding and lockout/tagout failures. The company now has 15 business days to comply, request an informal or challenge OSHA’s findings.