Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Amputations involving bone loss
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Blue Triton Brands, 109 Poland Spring Drive, POLAND SPRING, MAINE 04274
on — Amputations involving bone loss, affecting the Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was troubleshooting a bottle machine because the nozzle was stuck in the up position. The employee went to check for pre-blow air and the nozzle dropped back down to its starting position, catching his right index fingertip against the mold base. The employee sustained a fingertip amputation to the first digit.
Amputation Finger or thumb tip(s), nail(s) Extruding, injecting, forming, molding 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 312112)
A mechanic was performing a modular overhaul on a blower. While removing magnetic rods for the stretch rod, the employee was placing the second rod on the blower platform. The rods were magnetically attracted to one another, and the employee's left third and fourth fingers were pinched between them. She was hospitalized and sustained a partial amputation.
An employee was conducting maintenance on the bag in box (BIB) palletizer machine when the motor chain jumped, pulling his right index finger into the chain drive attached to the motor and causing a fingertip amputation.
An employee was clearing a piece of tape from the tape dispenser when their hand contacted the cutting implement on the dispenser. The employee suffered the amputation of their right index finger.
An employee was attempting to clear a bottle jam when they were pinned to the wall by the arm of a robotic bottle stacker. The employee sustained an abdominal injury that required hospitalization. The machine was not guarded at the time.
An employee was tensioning the chain of a packing machine. The employee's right index finger was caught in the chain sprocket, and the fingertip was amputated.
A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.
Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was standing on a step stool, removing the nuts and bolts from the frame of a solar panel that was being replaced. The employee's cheek made contact with a connector with damaged insulation. The employee was shocked, briefly lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, suffering an injury to the left shoulder.