Struck by running powered equipment during maintenance, cleaning, testing · Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Smithfield Foods Inc., 3660 North Parkway, CUMMING, GEORGIA 30040
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Thumb(s).
Final narrative
An employee was putting a pipe back together and was setting up equipment prior to start of production. The air valve was turned on and the employee's left thumb was partially amputated by the butterfly spindle inside the pipe.
Amputation Thumb(s) Food and beverage processing machinery unspecified
An employee was operating a packaging machine and went to unjam some plastic. Her left hand contacted the cutting blades resulting in a partial amputation to the middle fingertip. A guard was in place at the time.
An employee was replacing a roller on a belt press. They were pushing the roller when it fell out of alignment and crushed their left hand resulting in partial amputation of the little finger.
An employee was working in the prepack department in the chorizo area when a contractor performing work in the area cut into an anhydrous ammonia line. The employee inhaled ammonia gas, resulting in injury to the lungs and eyes. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working in the smoked meats department operating a machine that clips and holds the ham before smoking. A tote used to catch bindery emulsion from the machine was full and moved out from under the workstation. The employee later tripped over the tote and fell to the floor, sustaining a left femur fracture that required hospitalization and surgery.
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 311999)
An employee was reaching for a piece of angle iron when it fell onto his hand, which was on a table to support him as he reached for the overhead rack. He suffered a broken finger and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was working to open the liftgate on the back of a delivery truck. His left middle finger was pinched between the gate and its frame, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.
During a workshop meeting in a hotel, an employee heard a drilling noise, so he walked outside to see what it was. An explosion occurred (possible gas line) and his face, ear, and hair were burned. He also fell and sustained a pelvic fracture.
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.