UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At 1:05 p.m. on April 12, 2019, an employee was working for a firm that manufact ured plastic bags and pouches. He was working in a production area. The producti on area had lines with plastic extrusion machines. Along with a coworker, the em ployee had the task of changing filters on the machines. On at least one machine , a ram feeder had been added to the extruder or extrusion machine. One of the m achines had jammed. Part of the ram, a hammer, was stuck inside. The employee wa s clearing out the ram when his hand became caught in the machine. He suffered a fracture to the radius in his right arm. He was hospitalized. According to the coworker in an interview later, the machine would become jammed when it was over come with too much plastic. When this happened, the workers would stop the machi ne, turn off the air and use an 0.7-meter (2-foot) wooden stick to remove the ma terial stuck in the ram. The ram became stuck with material one to two times per week, depending on the material. Cleaning took about four to five minutes. The machine was cleaned on all shifts, and the coworker cleaned the machine on May 7 , 2019. Generally, compressed air was used to clear jammed plastic from the mach ine. The lockout/tagout program provided by the employer did not have documented training for the employee or his coworker.