LISBON – The same printing machine that killed a woman Friday at The Dingley Press injured two fingers of another worker last spring, said company President Chris Pierce. He said the two incidents should not suggest a pattern.
“Obviously, this was a horrible accident. But to disproportionately blame this particular press is not right,” he said. The company has six presses.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Tuesday that 21-year-old Kayla Cox of Dixfield died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Dr. Fred Jordan reported the findings of his external examination, a secretary at the office said. Medical experts at the office decide whether an autopsy or external exam is needed, she said.
How and why the accident happened are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Lisbon police are aiding in the probe. A final OSHA report is not expected for five to six weeks, a spokeswoman said.
Pierce said his company bought the 8-year-old Mitsubishi GPX 2500 press last year from a printer in Waterloo, Wis. The 48-page, eight-unit press measures 150 feet long. It prints on rolls of paper, then cuts them to size and sorts them.
Asked if it was equipped with all of the standard safety features, Pierce said, “That was our understanding,” Pierce said.
Since he came to the company in 1972, Pierce said there have been no fatalities at Dingley, which has been printing catalogues since 1928. He couldn’t say how many injuries have occurred since that time. It’s not a common occurrence, he said.
Karen Billups, assistant director for OSHA in Maine, said her agency had visited Dingley before, but never to investigate the press that killed Cox.
She and a fellow OSHA inspector responded Saturday morning to interview workers and examine the accident scene and machine. Another inspector was on site Tuesday.
Companies are required by law to report any work-place fatality or incidents in which three or more workers are hospitalized, Billups said. Six other workers on the scene Friday night were sent to a local hospital to be treated for trauma. They were not due back at work before Wednesday, Pierce said.
“It’s absolutely tragic. We’re absolutely heartsick,” Pierce said. “Obviously, our concern is with the family.”
OSHA gave the company the go-ahead to put the machine back into operation a day after Cox’s death, Pierce said.
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