Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120279526 - San Diego Custom Extrusions

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At 12:19 p.m. on February 14, 2000, Employee #1, a foreman, and his employer were seriously injured when they were struck by shrapnel and received flash burns to the neck and face when an injection molding machine exploded during a test run of a new polyvinyl chloride product. The product being formed by the injection molding machine was to be used for encasing a slow-burning material to be used by forestry personnel for grassland backfires. The product being molded had been tested by a qualified laboratory before the test run. The day shift supervisor poured the acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene product into the feed hopper, which feeds into a drive screw, which forces the product through a 36-inch electrical heater that melts the product and allows it to be shaped into the desired form. The customer for whom the finished product was being made stood beside the owner who was operating the machine. A pressure gauge on the machine indicated that too much pressure was being required to push the liquid product through the forming outlets. The owner saw the high pressure and was in the act of stopping the machine when the explosion occurred. Parts of the machine were sprayed across the building, with larger parts damaging a refrigerator about 10 feet away. Fortunately none of the larger parts struck anyone. The three men in the vicinity of the machine were struck by small flying parts and each received flash burns. The owner who was operating the machine was closest to the machine and received most of the impact of the explosion. The explosion alerted several other businesses in the industrial park. All parties exited the facility and received first aid while waiting for paramedics. Paramedics arrived in about seven minutes and transported the men to a local burn center. The owner was admitted for observation due to possible eye damage and after an eye specialist saw him the next day, he was released. The other two men were examined and released the same day as they arrived.

Keywords: BURN, MOLDING MACHINE, EXPLOSION, NECK, FACE