DPI Owner, Manager Face Criminal Charges
SAN FRANCISCO—The owner and pressroom manager of Digital Pre-Press International (DPI) will be arraigned on criminal charges Jan. 19 for the 2008 death of a pregnant woman who was crushed by a machine while prepping it for a job.
Sanjay Sakhuja, DPI owner, and pressroom manager Alick Yeung face up to four years in prison and $250,000 in fines for the death of Margarita Mojica. The company could also receive a fine of up to $1.5 million, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The men are charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and felony violation of the Labor Code [section 6425(a)], a willful violation of a CAL/OSHA regulation causing death or permanent injury.
Mojica, 26, was killed nearly four years ago when the creasing and cutting machine she was preparing for a job activated and crushed her upper body. According to the San Francisco District Attorney's office, workers at DPI were not trained on safety procedures including turning off the machine’s power before reaching into the equipment to set up creasing and cutting jobs. The complaint also charges that the machine that crushed Mojica lacked required safety devices.
The California Administrative Code [Title 8, section 3314] requires that a machine must be “locked out” during setting up operations if the unexpected energization or start of the machine could cause injury to an employee. “Lock-out” under this regulation means that power to the machine must be turned off and that the power switch must be locked in the off position.