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Cool Seal USA Intentionally Ignores OSHA Violation, Injures Another Worker

Lawsuit claims that Perrysburg company is responsible for worker’s crushed arm

A lawsuit was filed Monday and assigned to the Honorable Judge Kelsey in the Wood County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of a Cool Seal USA employee whose arm was crushed in an unsafe machine, requiring three surgeries and multiple skin grafts.

Despite previous OSHA violations, Perrysburg-based Cool Seal required employee Brendon Ingram to operate a laminating machine that lacked the proper safety guards.

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The machine Ingram was working on applies fabric or nylon backing to sheets of corrugated plastic material. Glue is affixed to the surface of the plastic, and then the fabric is pressed or laminated onto the plastic through the application of pressure applied by a roller system. One of the side effects of the lamination process is the cumulative build up of adhesive on the roller system which requires regular cleaning of the machine by Cool Seal employees, including Ingram.

While Ingram was in the process of removing excess adhesive from the roller system, his hand was caught in a pinch point, also known as the inrunning nip point, between the powered roller and idler roller because a safety guard was not installed by Cool Seal.The operation of the roller system further pulled Brendon’s right arm into the pinch point, crushing bones in his arm, shredding his skin and causing other serious and permanent injuries.

It was not possible for Brendon to have activated the machine while at the same time removing excess adhesive from the lamination machine’s roller system. Furthermore, it was not possible for him to access emergency stop devices while his arm was engaged in the inrunning nip point of the roller system.

“Cool Seal intentionally failed to install adequate safety guards or devices to prevent their employee’s hand from being pulled into the pinch point,” Chuck Boyk said. “Had these safety measures to protect their employees been taken by Cool Seal USA, the injury would never have occurred.”

Four short months prior to Ingram’s injury, the lamination machine had been the subject and cause of another industrial injury nearly identical in every regard to the type of injury suffered by Ingram. Documentation on both injuries and the resulting OSHA violations can be found using the links below:

PDF version of Brendon Ingram lawsuit against Cool Seal USA

 

OSHA Citation and Notification of Penalty against Cool Seal USA, LLC

“Brendon Ingram is at a competitive disadvantage, in that he must prove that Cool Seal intentionally caused his injuries,” Boyk said. “We believe that we are up for the challenge. Unless there are consequences, companies will almost always choose profits over the safety of their employees, which is why we filed this lawsuit. Cool Seal needs to face the consequences of their bad decisions.”

The mission of Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, LLC is to help those injured by the negligence of others, while at the same time focusing on educating the community on how to prevent similar situations. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Charles Boyk Law Offices has six locations to serve those in need of legal representation and we offer complimentary case evaluations to anyone living in or near Northwest Ohio. Simply call us toll-free at 800-637-8170 or fill out the online contact form to the right.

 

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