SOLON — Kennebec Lumber Co. of Solon has been ordered to pay about $5,600 in fines related to an April accident that required a worker be taken by helicopter to the hospital, though the company has a relatively clean safety record in recent years, according to U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration records.

The sawmill at 105 Main St. was issued a violation for not reporting the April 26 accident to OSHA within the required 24-hour period for incidents involving hospitalizations, OSHA inspection records show.

A violation was also issued for the company’s failure to conduct evaluations of employees who operate powered industrial trucks every three years. No powered industrial trucks were involved in the accident, but the OSHA compliance officer who conducted an inspection after the accident observed such a vehicle at the site and expanded the scope of the inspection, a report in the case file states.

The employee, whose name and other information is redacted in the records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, was identified in the days following the accident as a 33-year-old man.

According to OSHA records, the employee injured his hand at about noon on April 26. He was taken by a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he underwent surgery the next day.

The injury was reported to OSHA as a laceration, with possible amputation. The company reported the injury to OSHA on April 29, which was the Monday following the Friday incident.

Rachel Foster, the vice president of human resources for Kennebec Lumber Co., told an OSHA compliance officer that, based on a witness report, she believed the employee was attempting to cut two flat pieces with a compound miter saw and got his hand caught in the machine, according to OSHA records.

A summary of the employee’s interview with the OSHA compliance officer is redacted in records obtained by the Morning Sentinel.

After conducting several interviews and an on-site inspection in May, the OSHA compliance officer wrote that the investigation proposed the incident was “employee misconduct,” citing the company’s rules in place to prevent such kind of incident.

The injured employee said the saw was not working properly, but rules in place require employees to notify supervisors in those cases, the compliance officer wrote.

Further, Kennebec Lumber Co. communicates work rules and holds training throughout the year, the OSHA compliance officer wrote. Supervisors generally work in the same area as employees and have the authority to issue safety violations. In this case, however, the assigned supervisor was at a scheduled meeting elsewhere, according to the inspection report.

Officials at Kennebec Lumber Co. told the compliance officer that upon returning to work, the employee would be given a warning, retrained and be observed during a 30-day probationary period.

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Foster said she could not disclose whether the worker is still employed by the company, and the company had no further comment on the incident or the OSHA inspection.

The initial fine for the two violations totaled $11,201, but was reduced by half to $5,600.50 after OSHA factored in various penalty reductions and the company requested a further abatement.

Kennebec Lumber Co. is to pay the fine over a 12-month period, according to records. The company has made several payments.

In Solon, Kennebec Lumber Co. has about 100 employees, according to OSHA records. Headquartered in Solon, the company has five other sawmills in New Hampshire and several log yards across New England, according to its website.

Between January and May, the company reported eight injuries in Solon. It reported 10 injuries in 2023, six in 2022 and five in 2021.

Of the injuries, one other, in 2023, resulted in an employee having to be away from work, according to OSHA records. The specific case is not listed, but records indicate employees at the site missed two days of work due to injury that year.

In 2020, OSHA issued four violations at Kennebec Lumber Co.’s Solon location that totaled $5,000, after adjustments, according to OSHA data. The violations were for submitting a form reporting an injury incorrectly; not using controls to reduce and maintain employee exposure to respirable crystalline silica; and lack of compliance with required, periodic inspections of energy control procedure.