Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Cheese Merchants of America LLC, 1301 Schiferl, BARTLETT, ILLINOIS 60103
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
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Final narrative
An employee was operating a flexible packaging machine that filled, sealed, cut, and discharged plastic bags filled with shredded cheese. As the filled bag of cheese was exiting the machine onto a metal load plate that agitated up and down for the purpose of settling the cheese in the bag, the employee's right pinky finger was caught between the agitating load plate and it's base platform beneath. The employee suffered a partial amputation of the finger.
On 2/7/19, an employee was exiting the building to go to her vehicle when the wind blew the papers in her hand. She went to reach for them and lost her balance, tripped, and fell to the ground, fracturing her left wrist.
An employee was packaging cheese when the line where the cups go in became jammed from excess cheese. While he was cleaning the area around the cups, the machine became unjammed and caught his lab coat on a metal chain. The chain then fractured his left forearm.
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 311513)
An employee was diagnosing the lack of flow of product to a powder bin. The employee removed the rotary star valve below the bin. While he was reinstalling the valve, his right middle finger was crushed between its shaft and its housing. The finger was partially amputated.
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 changing an O-ring on a pneumatic valve. The employee had placed the valve on his work cart and was applying air to open the valve and access the O-ring. After changing the O-ring, the valve closed on his fingertip, crushing it. He was taken to the hospital, where he received an amputation.
An employee was using a pike to move a pallet of sugar that was stuck in the powder racking. The employee fell backward, landing on his right leg. The employee's leg was fractured and he was hospitalized.
The injured employee was carrying totes of cheese when they tripped over another employee's foot/ankle and fell to the cement floor. The injured employee sustained six fractured ribs on the left side and was hospitalized.
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.