Story Profiles Workers Maimed, Killed at Car Part Plants

Friday, March 24, 2017 | 0

Bloomberg Businessweek's cover story this week, placed online Thursday, focuses on factory workers who were killed or seriously injured as a result of dangerous conditions at Alabama car part plants. 

Calling Alabama "the new Detroit," the story describes the manufacturing boom that led the state's auto parts industry to employ 26,000 workers. 

Using records from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as its starting point, the article delves into the stories of workers like Cordney Crutcher, who lost a pinkie finger while operating a metal press at a Matcor-Matsu Group Inc. plant in Hunstville.

Crutcher had already worked 12 hours when a supervisor asked him to stay longer because the plant had fallen behind schedule on a shipment to Honda Motor Co. The cast-iron hole puncher on the metal press fired off unexpectedly and snapped down on Crutcher's finger when he was 10 parts away from finishing.  

The report opens with the story of Regina Elsea, who was killed at the age of 20 at the Cusseta plant Ajin USA, a South Korean supplier of auto parts for Hyundai and Kia. Elsea was trying to troubleshoot a malfunctioning machine when it powered up unexpectedly and trapped her.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Ajin more than $2.5 million, accusing it of not providing workers with machine safety locks or training them on how to use them. Ajin has contested the finding.

Read the full story here.