UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: At 3:45 p.m. on November 2, 2021, an employee was working for a firm that manufa ctured wooden kitchen cabinets and countertops. She operated compressing and com pacting machinery. She was conducting an instructional demonstration of a Stefan i SCM Olimpic k-560 edge bander, with serial number AHH 245. She was explaining to her supervisor issues she had with feeding plywood into a live edge bander ma chine while tape bands were still attached to the edges of the wood. The firm's safety manager told the compliance officer during the investigation that the fir m was aware that plywood products with tape bands along their sides that were be ing damaged during processing. Some plywood edges were getting destroyed during processing, and machine blades were breaking. According to the firm's machine su pervisor, it was discovered that the side tape one the plywood was the root caus e. He stated the employee stood next to the machine and began to demonstrate the problem. The tape bands on the plywood were getting caught in the blades and de stroying the edges along with the blades. As the employee continued her explanat ion, she reached into the machine approximately 6 inches (150 mmm) to show her s upervisor the machine's blades. As she lifted the conveyor system inside to show the blades, the machine started up and pulled the employee's gloved hand inside . The rotating blades ground the tip of her finger off. Her finger was amputated . She was treated without hospitalization.