Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Ed Miniat, LLC, 16250 Vincennes Avenue, SOUTH HOLLAND, ILLINOIS 60473
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On July 1, 2020, an employee was unjamming a packaging machine and sustained a partial amputation to the right index finger when the gloved finger contacted the blades inside of the machine.
An employee was repairing a cook tank. To reach the controls of tank, the walking grate was removed and the employee stepped to the ground. The platform was then at waist height on him. He heard a noise coming from another tank so he reached over and opened the air valve, causing air to rush into the bottom of that tank. Water flowed over the top of the tank and contacted the employee. He then jumped up to get on top of the platform and struck his left knee on the edge of the platform causing a laceration. The employee sustained burns to his neck and second-degree burns to his lower right leg and the top of his right foot.
An employee was scaling meat prior to filling in pouches on a bag former machine when their right-hand fingers were pinched in the machine, resulting in a laceration and partial amputation of the middle fingertip and a laceration of the ring finger.
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 424470)
An employee was grinding meat in a meat grinder when the auger caught his nitrile glove and pulled his arm into the machine. The employee sustained amputation of their left hand and arm to halfway up the forearm and required surgery. The machine was not guarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was cleaning a sheeter transfer conveyor. He was cleaning the conveyor support bars when his left hand was caught and pulled into a conveyor sprocket. He suffered a fracture, a laceration, and tendon/nerve damage to the hand and was hospitalized.
A warehouse employee was operating a forklift in the freezer area. While making a turn, the forklift slid on condensation that had accumulated on the freezer floor. The forklift struck a yellow pole that designates the exit path and the employee s left heel became caught between the forklift and the yellow pole, resulting in a heel pad avulsion, or rupture of the heel fat pad. The employee's injury required surgery and hospitalization.
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.