Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Elberta Crate & Box Co., 606 Dothan Highway, BAINBRIDGE, GEORGIA 39817
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
On March 15, 2017, the notching head saw jammed and the employee attempted to remove the jam with a steel bar. The saw caught the bar and hit the employee's left hand resulting in two broken fingers and an amputated thumb below the fingernail. The employee had surgery on the broken fingers requiring hospitalization. The saw was not locked out or turned off at the time.
An employee was discharging a can of belt dressing onto a conveyor belt. The belt's roller caught the employee's left arm, causing a partial amputation to the arm.
While clearing wood from a under a chipper machine, an employee's right hand was caught in the chain and sprocket, resulting in amputation of the thumb and index fingers and lacerations to the right hand, forearm, shoulder, chest, and the back of the head.
An employee was removing wooden cleats from a top conveyor belt and tossing them onto a bottom belt when the employee's right thumb was caught between the bottom belt's chain and sprocket, amputating 3/4 of the right thumb tip.
Two employees were repairing the hydraulic engagement pins on a rented front-end wheel loader. The machine controls were activated to move the attachment pins and an employee's finger was caught between the pins and the bushings. Their right index finger was partially amputated.
An employee was cleaning the conveyor on a piece of equipment when they slipped and their right hand was pulled into the chain sprocket. The employee's fifth fingertip was amputated.
An employee was throwing blankets onto a blanket folding and stacking machine. A blanket got stuck in the machine and she attempted to remove it when the machine contacted her right little finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 321920)
An employee was cutting wood with a miter saw when their clothing was pulled into the blade, resulting in a bicep laceration. The employee was hospitalized. The blade cover was not in place at the time of the incident.
Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was processing wood boards at a chop saw when the saw malfunctioned and the blade cut her left hand and fingers. She was hospitalized and her little finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was operating a bubble wrap production line. He was splicing the ends of the film rolls together with tape when a driven roll contacted his hand. His hand and arm were pulled into the machine up to his shoulder. The employee's forearm contacted the the hot surface (230-500 F) of the bubble stamping cylinder. He was hospitalized with burns to the forearm that required surgery and crushing injuries to the hand and forearm without fractures.
An employee was operating a pallet dismantling saw. A board became stuck, and the employee tried to pull the pallet. When the board broke, the employee's right hand made contact with the blade, resulting in the amputation of the right middle finger above the second knuckle.
An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.
During a workshop meeting in a hotel, an employee heard a drilling noise, so he walked outside to see what it was. An explosion occurred (possible gas line) and his face, ear, and hair were burned. He also fell and sustained a pelvic fracture.
An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.