How Incident Reports Help Prevent Future Accidents Fatality File

Failure to Act on Past Incidents Leads to Sawmill Fatality

In Phenix City, Alabama, a 67-year-old sawmill supervisor at MDLG Inc. (Phenix Lumber Co.) was fatally injured after climbing on top of an auger to clear a woodchipper jam. The machine activated while he was on it, pulling him into the equipment. OSHA found the employer failed to implement required lockout/tagout procedures and had not trained staff properly.

This incident followed a prior fatality at the same facility just three years earlier. OSHA had already issued citations for serious safety violations, yet the company failed to act on those findings. The 2023 tragedy resulted in over $2.4 million in new penalties and 28 total violations.

The case highlights how inadequate incident reporting and failure to learn from past accidents can directly lead to repeated, preventable fatalities. Incident reports must serve not just as documentation, but as the starting point for real change in workplace safety culture.

Source: Ishn.com