Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Exquisita Tortillas, Inc., 700 W. Chapin , EDINBURG, TEXAS 78541
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was placing packs of tortillas into a machine that cuts the tortillas into triangles. The employee's fingers came in contact with the machine where it lowers to cut the strips.
HospitalizedAmputationFinger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c.Food and beverage processing machinery-specialized, n.e.c.
An employee was adjusting the mesh conveyor belt on the flour tortilla process line when their right ring finger was caught between the actuating piston and the conveyor frame. The fingertip was amputated and the employee was hospitalized.
A temporary employee was mixing dough when he noticed dough stuck on a rod at an adjacent machine. He was attempting to clear out the dough when a moving part pinched and amputated his right ring fingertip between the part and the rod.
An employee was sharpening peeler blades when their shirt was caught in the grinding wheel. The employee sustained tendon damage and a crushed right hand.
An employee was preparing to cut lumber on a panel saw when the clamp engaged and caught the employee's left middle finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 311830)
An employee was diagnosing the cause of a rear light malfunction on a forklift when the reverse gear engaged. The forklift moved backward and contacted the employee causing a metatarsal fracture in their left foot and injury to their lower right leg.
An employee was wiping down a shredder machine while it was turned off. After she was finished cleaning, she turned the machine on when the rollers of the machine caught her fingers, resulting in amputations to her index, middle and ring fingers.
Two employees were changing fuses for a fryer. The pump on the fryer was turned off, but the heat exchanger kept running. When the pump was turned back on, hot oil shot toward the filter. The filter box opened and sprayed the two injured employees with hot grease. The employees suffered burns to their backs, shoulders, and arms.
An employee was inserting corn tortillas into a corn cutting machine. The machine's air piston released and came down onto her left thumb, resulting in an amputation.
An employee was clearing an obstruction in a conveyor when his arm was pulled into the rollers of the conveyor. He suffered lacerations to the left arm and was hospitalized.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.