Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Barry Callebaut USA, LLC., 903 INDUSTRIAL HIGHWAY, EDDYSTONE, PENNSYLVANIA 19022
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was helping a mechanic diagnose a problem with an airlock. The mechanic had the airlock open to access the fan that was inside. The employee attempted to clear cocoa powder that was stuck in the port with his finger. The running airlock fan propeller then amputated his right index fingertip.
HospitalizedFingertip(s)Food and beverage processing machinery-specialized, unspecified
An employee was attempting to unjam a cocoa shell process machine when their left hand got caught in the machine, resulting in partial amputations of the middle and ring fingers.
An employee was wrapping plastic around a pallet when they tripped over a leg of a conveyor system, fell, and hit their head on the concrete floor, resulting in hematoma. The employee was hospitalized.
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 311352)
An employee was scraping excess peanut butter that had built up between a bump guard and the vacuum head. The employee was guiding the scraper tool when his right index finger became caught between the vacuum hood and the trays, resulting in an amputation to the finger at approximately the first knuckle.
An employee was carrying bags of coconut to load into a machine. While holding empty bags, the employee slipped on the two-step stairway leading to the machine, which was slick with coconut oil. The employee fell, landed on the stairs on their side, and suffered three broken ribs and a pneumothorax.
An employee was waiting for product to come down a conveyor belt. The employee's left hand was caught between the belt and a roller under it, and their left hand and arm were pulled into the conveyor. The employee suffered a broken little finger, a broken ulna, and a laceration on the wrist.
An employee was working on a tempering machine to temper chocolate. The employee was clearing material from the pneumatic butterfly valve when their finger was crushed by the valve. The employee sustained an amputation of right middle finger to the first knuckle. The machine was not guarded at the time.
An employee was verifying the tension on a drive belt when their right hand was caught between the drive belt and a pulley, resulting in a fractured right middle finger and an amputation to the right ring finger.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.