MTD Products Inc., doing business as Stanley Black + Decker, faces $222,392 in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines after a 29-year-old maintenance electrician suffered severe burns during an electrical arc blast at the company’s Willard, Ohio, facility, the agency announced May 28.
An arc flash occurs when an electric current travels from one conductor to another or to the ground. Arc flashes can produce temperatures over 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit, causing death or serious injury to those nearby. The blast at the Stanley Black + Decker facility occurred while the electrician replaced fuses to repair an industrial oven.
OSHA opened an inspection at the Willard facility in response to the employer’s report of a worker’s hospitalization, and agency investigators identified several safety issues.
They found that the company failed to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) as required when employees were working around energized electrical equipment.
OSHA also determined that Stanley Black + Decker lacked safe work practices and training for electrical maintenance employees and lockout/tagout procedures required for energized electrical equipment. They also found that the company had exposed workers to potential fall hazards.
“Stanley Black + Decker must reevaluate its safety procedures immediately to protect maintenance workers from electrical and machine hazards before another employee suffers needlessly,” Todd Jensen, OSHA’s Toledo, Ohio, area office director, said in an agency statement. “Each year, hundreds of workers are hurt or worse by electrical-related injuries when employers fail to provide required personal protective equipment and follow safety procedures. Employee safety and health should be every employer’s most important bottom line.”
Stanley Black + Decker is a $14.5 billion global diversified industrial company headquartered in New Britain, Connecticut, according to OSHA, with 56,000 employees in more than 60 countries. The company operates a tools and storage business, whose brands include DeWalt, Stanley, Black+Decker, and Craftsman. The company completed its acquisition of MTD Holdings in December 2021.