Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC, 228 South Main Street, SPRING GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA 17362
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was troubleshooting the air coming out of the holes in a trim chute guard. His left index fingertip was amputated by the slitter blade.
AmputationFingertip(s)Slitters, winders-paper production
More severe injuries at Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC
An employee was observing a troubleshooting event with a limit switch when hot pulping liquor overflowed from the screw conveyor in the digester basement, contacting the employee and resulting in thermal burns. The employee sustained first-degree burns to the back of their neck, shoulder, and upper back, as well as second-degree burns to their knees, legs, and pelvic area.
The injured employee was assisting another employee with a wheel turn up (changing papers) on a paper machine. The paper sheet was not following the new spool. The employees were using a 5-foot wooden pole to tuck. The pole hit a nip point, causing the end of the pole to whip and strike the injured employee's left hand. The employee sustained multiple fractures to their hand.
An employee was helping to guide the chuck of the core onto the paper reel when their left thumb became caught between the re-reeler and the paper core, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was inspecting the tension on the top and bottom slitters of a machine. As he was manually spinning the bottom slitter, the blade contacted his right ring finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
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 322121)
Tools and parts were being lowered to the ground from an elevated platform in a 5-gallon bucket. The rope being used to lower the bucket failed; the tools and parts fell and lacerated the left forearm and upper left leg of an employee on the ground.
An employee was tracking an infeed belt on a scrap hogger when their right arm was caught between the belt and a roller. The arm was broken and the employee's shoulder was dislocated. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working to clear a jam from a paper napkin folder. The ram that advanced the napkins pushed the employee's right arm into the side of the machine, causing several lacerations and a hairline fracture.
An employee was troubleshooting overflowing ink on a printer-slotter machine when their right ring fingertip was caught in a guarded roller, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was disconnecting wires in preparation to swap out a refiner motor when they contacted energized equipment and sustained an electrical shock. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.