Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation, 111 Industrial Drive, CHESTER, ILLINOIS 62233
on — Fractures, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On 6/18/2022, an employee had been driving a tow motor and putting finished products on the pallet wrapper machine when plastic wrap got jammed. The employee got off the tow motor and climbed onto the pallet wrapper to clear the jam. When he grabbed the wrap, his hand was pulled between the turntable and roller bed of the pallet wrapper. His hand was pinned/crushed causing broken bones in the right thumb and index finger. The machine was running at the time.
An employee was driving a forklift in reverse to move materials when the forklift ran into a skid that was up on a rack. A finger on the employee's right hand was crushed between the forklift support bar and the skid, resulting in an amputation to the finger.
An employee was doing a daily inspection of the sifter screen on a mixer when the mixer line activated. The armature for the screen struck the employee's right wrist. Their wrist was cut and their hand was fractured.
An employee was cleaning a single-facer machine. The employee's fingertips were crushed between rollers in the machine. The employee was hospitalized, and the fingertips were medically amputated.
An employee was working on a pasta-making machine. The employee had removed and cleaned the screw. He was trying to line the screw up to slide it back into the barrel. When the screw was tapped with a mallet, his finger was caught between the screw and the wall of the barrel, causing an amputation to the 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 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.
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.