Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Orafol Americas Inc., 120 Darling Drive, AVON, CONNECTICUT 06001
on — Fractures , affecting the Forearm(s).
Final narrative
An employee was running acrylic film through an automated winding machine which wraps film around a cardboard cylinder core. He noticed that the film had slipped off the winder. He went to the front of the machine to re-attach the film to the winder spool. His fingers got caught between the film and the spool and his left arm was pulled up by the winder spool. The employee was hospitalized with a broken left forearm. Another employee injured their shoulder when pulling the first injured employee out of the machine.
An employee was working with an automatic sheeting machine. The material was not feeding properly into the machine. The employee was trying to grab the material and pull it through when a blade in the machine amputated the tip of her left thumb above the knuckle, also cutting her left index finger.
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 326130)
The injured employee was letting air out of a winding shaft using scissors as a lift table was used to pull the roll off the shaft. The roll/cardboard core slid over the top of the injured employee's scissors and caused the scissors to amputate the employee's little fingertip at the nail base.
An employee was dropping off a skid of laminate to be cut at a table saw. The skid was lifted and the forks tilted forward when the stack slid forward and struck the injured employee. The employee was pinned between the laminate and the table of the saw, resulting in a back fracture and a laceration to the liver.
An employee was using a machine to cut a roll of plastic sheeting. The employee's right hand was at the end of the roll, and when the cutting mechanism of the machine cycled, the employee's right middle and ring fingers were cut, resulting in amputations to both fingers.
The injured employee and a co-worker were loading a pallet of material onto a rack using a hydraulic lift system. The employee on the south side of the lift picked up the board about 2 inches so the board could enter the rack. The employee on the north side of the lift pressed the travel button to align the board with the rack opening. The injured employee was pinned between the lift and the rack and sustained fractured ribs.
An employee was checking on a machine outside of the building and removed a cover to clean out a blocked area. His hand was caught by a rotary valve in a dust collection machine. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was working to clean a glue roller with a scraper tool. The tool and the employee's left thumb were pinched between two rollers, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was re-arranging boxes of pipe insulation on a pallet. One of the boxes fell from the pallet and knocked over an upright empty cylinder. The cylinder fell and crushed the tip of the employee's right toe. The employee's toe required surgical amputation.
An employee was securing the claw of a grapple truck to the truck bed. His left little finger was caught between the tie down strap and the rub rail of the truck, resulting in partial amputation of the finger.
An employee was cutting extruded aluminum framing material using a horizontal band saw. She went to grab a rag in the machine when the rag contacted the blade and pulled her hand in toward the blade, resulting in a partial amputation of the right index finger.