Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Avulsions, enucleations without bone loss
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Cambridge-Lee Industries, LLC., 86 Tube Drive, READING, PENNSYLVANIA 19605
on — Avulsions, enucleations without bone loss, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was operating a copper transfer conveyor to move a copper pipe (3-inch diameter, 34-foot length) when the pipe jammed on the conveyor lip. The employee manually cleared the jam. Once the pipe was unjammed, it began moving down the conveyor causing the employee to stumble backward and catch his right hand in the gear chain assembly, resulting in the amputation of his index, middle and ring fingertips without bone loss.
HospitalizedAmputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Conveyors belt, slot, chain
More severe injuries at Cambridge-Lee Industries, LLC.
An employee was operating equipment to cut a copper pipe (20 feet in length, 2 inches in diameter) when a jam occurred between the revolver assembly and the pinch roller assembly. He assessed the jam and determined that the copper pipe needed to be cut using a battery-powered reciprocating saw. He made two cuts on the pipe with the reciprocating saw. When the second cut was finished, kinetic energy stored within the pipe due to the jam released, and the pipe struck the employee's left hand. The employee's index fingertip was partially amputated before the first knuckle without bone loss.
An employee was operating a copper push-point machine. The employee went to remove the die when their right gloved hand became stuck on the lip of the pointed copper. Their right middle finger moved into the die and was amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was cleaning a moving roller when the rag got caught in the roller pulling the employee's left hand into the roller and partially amputating the middle finger. The employee was wearing leather gloves at the time.
An employee was cleaning a set of pinch rollers. The employee's right hand and arm were pulled through the rollers and crushed. The machine was not shut down and locked out at the time of the incident.
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 331420)
An employee was loading an empty reel on the west reel take-up when they noticed that the wire lying on the east reel take-up had over-accumulated on one side of the reel, making it uneven. The employee stopped the east take-up machine and released tension on the wire to correct the lay. As the employee engaged a mechanical rotation function to take up the wire slack, their right little finger was crushed between two separate wire strands on the reel under tension, resulting in a fingertip amputation. The machine was guarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was operating an overhead crane to transport a bundle of copper tubing. He went to lower the load as he was approaching a rack, but the suspended bundle of tubing suddenly jerked in the other direction. The bundle struck a nearby tool cabinet, and the cabinet tipped over. The employee went to prevent it from falling. However, the cabinet still fell over, striking his right arm and briefly pinning it against another object. The employee suffered a fractured right forearm that required hospitalization.
An employee was working to manually clear copper tubes from the turnover rack due to a faulty sensor. As he used his right hand to remove a finished tube from the turnover rack, another tube pushed through the feed line and struck his gloved right ring fingertip. The sharp edge of the copper tube caused a soft tissue amputation to the bottom side of the fingertip.
An employee was cleaning slag from a casting mold at a furnace. The molten copper dropped out of the mold too quickly, reacted with the mold cooling water, and blew out. The molten metal struck his right foot, hand, and torso, causing first-, second-, and third-degree burns.
An employee was working with a drill press when his right glove was caught and pulled into the drill bit. The employee's little fingertip was partially amputated.
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.