Update: 1 of Cranston worker's 4 fingers reattached
4:42 PM Mon, Oct 26, 2009 | Permalink
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CRANSTON, R.I. -- Doctors have been able to reattach the index finger of a Cranston cabinet manufacturer worker, after an industrial accident severed four of the fingers on his right hand Saturday morning, according to the worker's employer. Seth Golbitz, 32, is listed in fair condition at Rhode Island Hospital Monday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said. Tom Oszajca, president of Providence Architectural Woodworkers Group at 1655 Elmwood Ave., said after visiting Golbitz at the hospital: "He's in decent spirits for what he's gone through," Oszajca said. "He didn't lose his whole hand, but it's not much better," said Oszajca, who founded the company in 2002. "His thumb is okay. They reattached his index finger [and they're] hoping it'll work. The middle finger and ring finger are gone. The pinkie is down to the first knuckle," Oszajca said. The company has fewer than 20 workers. "We're like a family here," Oszajca said. "We see Seth sometimes more than we see a spouse. ... When something like this affects one of us, it affects all of us." Golbitz and another employee had been working with a computer-controlled overhead router Saturday morning, Cranston Police Chief Marco Palombo Jr. said in a statement early Monday afternoon. Oszajca said the machine had been in the shop for a few months. An investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration early in her investigation told her boss, Patrick Griffin, the Rhode Island area director for OSHA, that Golbitz had severed four fingers, not his whole hand as was initially reported. All power to the overhead router was shut off after the incident, and the police put caution tape around the machine to keep it from being used until after the OSHA investigation, Palombo said. Griffin said OSHA has 180 days to investigate an incident, although most don't take that long. The investigator is looking at the machine and interviewing people, Griffin said, and his assistant, Robert Sestito, said the investigator also would determine whether safety standards had been violated. The fire crew responding to the accident asked for the police and OSHA to respond to the scene, Deputy Fire Chief Bernard Patenaude said Monday morning. Fire records show the accident happened at 10 a.m. Saturday, and that police were called to secure the equipment pending the investigation, Patenaude said. Police were called at 11:30 a.m., Palombo said. Oszajca expressed his own and the company's sorrow about the accident and the rehabilitation in Golbitz's future. "We have the deepest sympathy for him and his family and what he has to go through." The Providence Journal has been following this story as it develops. Our initial report was posted at 8:19 a.m., and Journal staff updated it at 12:01, 1:27 and 3:33 p.m. 
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Seth, keep your head up. Our prayers are w/you. Hope to get up there and see you.
Tony
(Elite Fixtures and Millwork One)
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My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family Seth. Thomas Oszajca is correct and saying that they are like family - The atmosphere is always a warm and friendly feeling. The owner is a wonderful employer and person to know. All the employees are caring and friendly. God Bless all of you.
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