OSHA has identified more than 1,000 worker injuries at the company facilities in Arcadia, including severed fingers.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration began probing conditions at Ashley Furniture work sites in Arcadia this past summer, after a worker lost three fingers while operating a woodworking machine. Investigators found that it did not have safety mechanisms in place, and that dozens of other employees were injured using similar equipment. OSHA looked back three years.
Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. is the largest furniture retailer in the U.S. with annual revenue of $3.8 billion and 20,000 employees nationwide. More than 4,000 have worked at its facilities in Arcadia, with OSHA identifying 1,000 injuries among those employees.
The agency identified violations as willful, repeated and serious, and is fining Ashley $1.76 million.
Cited offenses included: not training workers on safety procedures and hazards present when serving machinery, lacking drenching facilities for workers exposed to corrosive materials and failing to equip some machines with readily-accessible emergency stop buttons.
According to U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, "Ashley Furniture intentionally and willfully disregarded OSHA standards and its own corporate safety manuals to encourage workers to increase productivity and meet deadlines."
The company has 15 business days to respond.
Ashley Furniture reacted to the OSHA findings and action via a statement. It reads, in part:
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