Caught in running equipment or machinery, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at GLIDEWELL SPECIALTIES FOUNDRY CO., INC., 600 FOUNDRY ROAD, CALERA, ALABAMA 35040
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was holding a butterfly valve to adjust it prior to installation. The injured employee asked a second employee to apply compressed air to the valve. When the compressed air was applied, the valve actuated to the closed position, pinching the injured employee's left thumb tip between the disk and the valve body. The employee suffered a laceration/amputation to the left thumb above the knuckle.
Employees were assembling and testing a butterfly valve unit and actuator combo. When the unit was function tested with air, the valve gate closed on an employee's left thumb resulting in a fracture and laceration.
An employee was doing a daily inspection of the sifter screen on a mixer when the mixer line activated. The armature for the screen struck the employee's right wrist. Their wrist was cut and their hand was fractured.
An employee was doing a dry run during the setup of an ice cream machine. The machine indexed and the filler head amputated the employee's left middle finger above the last knuckle.
An employee was on a 3-foot ladder guiding cable onto a spool during installation on an overhead door. As the control box was jogged, the employee's hand was caught between the cable and spool, resulting in a wrist and hand fracture.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331511)
An employee was realigning two halves of a core box on a core-making machine. Pneumatic pressure released, causing the core box to close on the employee's right thumb. The thumb tip was amputated between the nail and the knuckle.
An employee was performing maintenance/electrical work inside a substation, and used a ladder to access the top of a panel box. The employee fell 8-9 feet from the top of the panel box to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their ribs and a shoulder injury.
An employee's hand was caught in a pinch point in the area of a conveyor for a flask running out of a foundry molding machine. The employee's ring finger was crushed and partially amputated at the base.
An employee noticed a block was out of place under the weighted mold frame. The employee used another block to push the block out and replace it. When the block came out, the frame came down on his right ring and little fingers. The employee sustained a fracture and partial amputation to the ring fingertip.
An employee was using a fork truck to move a tub containing molten iron that had been drained from the cupula. The tub tipped over and the molten metal came in contact with water. This caused the molten iron to splash back and burn the employee's upper torso.
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.