An Indiana contractor has been cited for a serious violation after an employee was killed while cleaning a concrete placer machine last fall.
Rodolfol Nuñez, 49, was cleaning the augers of a Gomaco PS-2600 Placer/Spreader at a construction site along U.S. 20 in Goshen, Indiana, on October 16, 2023, when he was caught in between the two augers and suffered fatal injuries.
According to the IOSHA report, it is a normal practice to clean the machine with a pressure washer after use with the augers moving. The machine is not locked out/tagged out or shut off during the process.
Because no guarding or other means of protection exists to prevent an employee from being caught between the augers, OSHA says employers should “provide, train on, and enforce the use of lock-out procedures/devices and/or to ensure the Gomaco Concrete Placer is shut off/de-energized during the cleaning process.”
Milestone Contractors, an Indianapolis-based highway, heavy construction, asphalt paving, concrete paving and site-development general contractor, faces a $7,000 proposed penalty for one serious violation for not furnishing employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees.
