Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at GBC Metals LLC , 305 Lewis Clark Blvd , EAST ALTON, ILLINOIS 62024
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was finishing up repairs to the 4DC Up Elevator. The employee proceeded to pull slack out of the drive chain. After cleaning the teeth of the sprocket, the weight of the chain pinched the employee's finger between the chain and a sprocket resulting in the amputation of 3/8 inch of the tip of the left right finger. LOTO was used.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331421)
An employee was polishing a bar on the lathe with sandpaper when the bar wrapped around the employee's glove and pulled it off. The employee sustained fractures to their index finger, wrist, and a knuckle.
An employee was using an electrical meter to troubleshoot an electrical drive system. While removing the probe, the employee made contact with the bus and was shocked. The employee sustained burns to their fingers and a dislocated shoulder.
An employee was setting up a furnace and lighting the torch on the furnace when they sustained burns from a flashback flame. The employee was hospitalized with burns to their head, face, chest, arms, and armpit area.
An employee was using a metal bar tied to a nylon strap attached to a jib crane to tighten a metal ring on a heated extrusion press. The metal bar flew off and struck the employee in the left forearm, fracturing it.
An employee was troubleshooting the lift table of the automated take-up mechanism on the jacket extrusion line. He was able to get the table to raise up, at which point it engaged and lowered. The employee's leg was pinned between the lift table and the concrete floor. His ankle was broken and he was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.