Diamond Foundry has been fined $12,000 by Washington state’s Department of Labor and Industries, after its Wenatchee diamond-growing factory was found to have three “serious” safety violations—which have since been rectified.
The three violations all centered on the factory’s energy control program, meant to ensure employees are safe from stored energy or the unexpected startup of machinery or equipment.
The state found that Diamond Foundry’s factory did not have a complete written energy control program, did not document its energy control procedures in writing, and did not train employees to understand the program, according to its citation.
Two of the serious violations incurred $6,000 fines; no fine was levied for the third. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines a “serious” violation as one where “a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a condition which exists.”
Diamond Foundry also was found to have two other safety problems—one that concerns the labeling of a lock and tag on a circuit breaker, and the other involving testing employees’ knowledge of the energy control program. These violations were not labeled “serious,” and the company was not fined for them.
The violations have been corrected and the fines paid, the citation said. According to OSHA, inspection of the Diamond Foundry facility stemmed from a “complaint.”
Diamond Foundry CEO Martin Roscheisen tells JCK: “We are proud for our diamonds to originate in places where there are truly stringent safety standards in place to protect workers. We [took] one for the team for not having the required documentation in place and have corrected this and are further doubling down on complying with the world’s most stringent safety standards.”
He referred JCK to this chart, which says that 29 people died in 2022 in U.S. mines.
The news was first reported by Wenatchee World, a local website. It comes shortly after Washington governor Jay Inslee visited the factory.
Diamond Foundry signed a deal to be produce diamonds in Wenatchee in 2019.
Top: Diamond Foundry cofounder Kyle Gazay at the Wenatchee, Wash., factory’s opening in 2019. (Photo courtesy of Diamond Foundry)
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