Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at KOCH FOODS OF GADSDEN, 501 PADEN ROAD, GADSDEN, ALABAMA 35903
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
While hand-scrubbing the chute on a vacuum system, the employee's hand entered the vacuum pump chute and his finger was caught on angle iron. When he pulled his finger back, the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was cleaning a mixing tank and spraying water inside the tank when the water pressure hit the tank lid. The lid then fell and struck the employee's right hand, partially amputating the middle fingertip.
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 424440)
An employee was moving a cardboard tote of product using an electric pallet jack. After he turned a corner, he came in contact with a round metal bracket that holds a trash bag mounted to a pole. The pallet jack continued forward and his right hand got caught between the pole and the handle of the jack, resulting in an open fracture and crush injury to his thumb that required hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was cleaning the packer line with a steel wool pad when the pad got caught in the chain and gear sprocket and their hand was pulled in. They sustained a laceration to the right hand.
An employee was adjusting a guard on a box sealing machine when they slipped on tea oil, causing their right thumb to get stuck in the chain/sprocket. The distal portion of the employee's right thumb was amputated.
An employee was removing an egg transport unit (cart) from the back of a box truck. The cart rolled off the lift gate and struck the employee, fracturing their tibia.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.