Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Natures Path Foods , W227N6088 Sussex Rd. , SUSSEX, WISCONSIN 53089
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was training a new operator when a machine jammed. The employee had used an adjustable wrench to remove bolts and was clearing the machine when its moving parts amputated three fingertips on her left hand.
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 311230)
An employee was changing the belt of a sorting machine. He was on his knees, changing the drive belt under the machine, when lost his balance and hit his head on the framework. He suffered an injury that caused numbness in both arms and hands and was hospitalized.
An employee was removing product build-up from the corners of the jump belt on a machine. The machine started and the employee's left thumb was caught between the guiderail and the belt. Their thumb tip was amputated.
An employee was monitoring the food stream from the picker into a cooling valve when she saw a piece of plastic on the food. As she attempted to remove the plastic, the picker wrapped around and pulled her hand, resulting in an injury that required hospitalization.
An employee was installing a clean bran mash hopper when their right little finger was caught between the hopper and a pipe, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
An employee was at the top of a rolling step lock ladder taking a bolt out of a sprocket using a box wrench. When the bolt broke loose, the employee lost his balance and fell backward 4-5 feet onto the floor. He sustained fractures to the clavicle, scapula, and three ribs as well as a laceration to the back of his head.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.