Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Grain Millers, Inc., 5703 County Road U, NEWTON, WISCONSIN 53063
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee climbed up to the penthouse (a small area three levels up) to manually adjust the 4-way diverter to be over the correct bin prior to starting the next order. The employee opened one of the access doors on the 4-way diverter to visually observe the bin to which the diverter was directed. The employee went to brush debris from the manual diverter near the airlock and made contact with the airlock which had not been locked out. The employee sustained an amputation to the right ring fingertip.
Amputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Machinery unspecified
A temporary employee turned off a planer machine, opened the housing, and began clearing a jam. The machine's spinning blade caught his right hand and degloved the index finger.
An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.
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.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 311211)
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 checking a flour roll stand for a blockage. The employee's right hand was caught in an ingoing nip point on the machine, causing partial amputations to the thumb and middle, ring, and little fingers.
An employee was climbing an A-frame ladder to adjust an exhaust pipe on the wall to let the heat out. The employee fell 4-5 feet and injured his right tibia and ankle.
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.