Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at J & A Pallets Service, Inc., 1225 Arnold Street, CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS 60411
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was putting notches in 2x4 wooden boards with a woodcutting notching machine when the machine amputated two middle fingers and part of the pinky finger on the employee's right hand.
An employee was sharpening peeler blades when their shirt was caught in the grinding wheel. The employee sustained tendon damage and a crushed right hand.
An employee was preparing to cut lumber on a panel saw when the clamp engaged and caught the employee's left middle 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 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.