Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 116890.015 - Worker retrieving tool suffers partial amputation of finger
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
1406234.015 | 06/05/2019 | 311611 | Swift Pork Company |
Abstract: At 11:15 p.m. on March 19, 2019, an employee was working as a janitor at a meatpacking facility. He was working with the maintenance foreman near the loin saddle position on the main break of the cut floor. They were clearing fat from a conveyor. He was observing as supervisors were using a long stainless product hook to freeing clogged product in a conveyor. The hook became caught in loin saddle conveyor #1. The hook cycled through to rest at the west end, where the production processes continued to flow unimpeded. The employee went to retrieve the hook while he was adjacent, under, and north of the saddle conveyor. The employee attempted to retrieve a long handled hook that had been left in the machine by the supervisor. When the employee grabbed the hook by the handle, the tool rotated. This rotation caused the tool to become caught on the material conveyor belt again. The tool was jerked in the direction that the belt was running. The hook was pulled while the employee was still holding on. The employee was pulled across an in-running nip point, between the conveyor belt and a supporting frame structure. The employee's right ring finger was pinched between the tool handle and the machine frame. The employee suffered a partial amputation of the tip of the right ring finger. Another account said that his right hand ring finger was severed at the mid-point of the first finger digit (knuckle, probably). The narrative wasn't clear. Either way, the employee was taken to an emergency department, where medical personnel were able to reattach the finger. He was not hospitalized. The employer had provided written standard operating procedures (SOP) for unjamming product, boxes, or items from the machine and conveyor. The procedures were not specific enough for this task, and the procedures currently provided would not effectively protect employees from hazards.
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1406234.015 | 45 | M | Non Hospitalized injury | Janitors and cleaners |