A Fulton County company that makes parts for overhead garage doors has been fined nearly a half-million dollars by a federal agency for workplace safety violations that led to some employees suffering crushed or amputated fingers last fall at the firm’s manufacturing plant.

Napoleon Spring Works Inc. of Archbold was fined $484,007 on April 24 by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, whose inspectors cited the company for 21 violations, including two that were in the “willful” category and nine that were “repeat” violations.

Another 10 violations were categorized as “serious.”

Scott Allen, a spokesman for the OSHA office in Chicago, said the fine was high because the company previously was fined $147,600 and cited for 16 safety violations in October, 2013. In that inspection, the company was cited for exposing employees to both injury and amputation risk because of insufficient safeguards on various machinery.

“They had that citation in 2013 that were the same things as now. They made improvements then, but then fell off,” Mr. Allen said.

The latest fines and citations were the result of accidents that occurred last fall in the Archbold plant at 111 Weires Dr.

On Oct. 26, an employee involved in the loading and unloading of parts suffered a crushed finger and an amputated finger while working on a mechanical power press that stamps out parts. The machine lacked the proper safeguards to protect employees, the OSHA report said.

On Nov. 7, another employee lost a finger while trying to unjam a hinge-making machine.

The latter incident was the result of power to the machine not being fully turned off while the employee was troubleshooting it — a safety procedure known as lockout-tagout.

Those generated the “willful” citations, the most serious citation the agency issues. The company showed disregard for OSHA regulations and put workers in harm’s way, Mr. Allen said.

An employee who answered the phone at Napoleon Spring Works said the firm did not want to comment on the citations or fines. The company can contest the fines and citations.

The “serious” citations included exposing workers to electrical hazards and not wearing proper safety equipment when handling electrical equipment. Also cited was the fact that a forklift driver’s performance had not been evaluated in the last three years.

The “repeat” violations included employees not using lockout-tagout procedures for machinery and a failure to follow power control procedures.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

First Published May 12, 2017, 4:00 a.m.