Caught in running equipment or machinery, unspecified · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Highland Baking Company, Inc., 2301 Shermer Rd., NORTHBROOK, ILLINOIS 60062
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was sorting bread on a packing line. The employee attempted to remove bread from the gear box of the packing line when their right middle and ring fingers were caught between the sprocket and chain, resulting in two fingertip amputations.
AmputationFingertip(s)Special process machinery, unspecified
More severe injuries at Highland Baking Company, Inc.
During a changeover, an employee was wiping down the dough chunker machine and the chunker closed on his left hand. The employee sustained crushing/laceration injuries, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was standing alongside a conveyor placing pans on the belt when his left hand rested on a pneumatic rod that controls the tempo of production. The pneumatic rod retracted and caused an amputation to his left pinky finger. The rod was unguarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was attempting to dislodge dough from a dough-separating machine when the machine's cutting blade amputated the employee's left middle and ring fingers. The machine was running at the time.
On December 19, 2023, an employee was setting up a copper wire drawing machine when his left ring finger was pinched between a copper wire and a machine part. The employee's finger was partially amputated.
An employee was checking the gusset seal on a machine. He moved to the next cross sealer and the machine activated, causing an amputation to a left-hand finger. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was evaluating a coiling machine to verify that the blade was present inside it. The machine's weld function was activated, and the machine crushed the employee's fingers, resulting in the amputation of the left middle and ring fingers.
An employee (who had recently walked through water accumulated on the floor) slipped and fell to the floor. The employee suffered a broken right wrist and right elbow and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was performing maintenance on a production line, requiring a testing and positioning phase for the whipped cream dispensers. The employee was positioning the dispensers using wrenches when one of the sensors was triggered by the pie pans coming down the line. The depositor heads lowered and pinched the employee's left ring finger, resulting in an amputated fingertip. The whipped cream dispensers were not guarded at the time and the line was not locked out/tagged out.
During a line changeover, an employee was rinsing a depositor with water. The employee was working to remove a piece of chocolate, stuck in the machine's roller, when the roller's moving parts caught his middle finger. He suffered an amputation to the fingertip with bone loss.
An employee was emptying a trash can into a dumpster. He tripped while turning around, fell over a rail onto the concrete floor, and broke bones in his back and wrist.
During a changeover, an employee was wiping down the dough chunker machine and the chunker closed on his left hand. The employee sustained crushing/laceration injuries, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
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.