UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: Employee #1 was cleaning lint from the ink rollers of a Harborberg offset press, a duty he performed several times a day. He lost his balance, and as he tried to steady himself, his left hand became caught between the operating ink rollers. He called to a coworker, who shut off the power and called an ambulance. The coworker tried to extricate Employee #1's fingers from the machine, but failed. Medical technicians removed the rollers, releasing the fingers. Part of Employee #1's left thumb was amputated and the bones splintered in three other fingers. Employee #1 had been a full-time pressman for another employer for 13 years, and had been working part-time as a pressman with this company for 4 months. He stated that he had been trained in safety procedures and knew what was safe and what was not. Employee #1 also indicated that guards were not in place on the machine on the day he was injured. The machine had a jog and/or inch method built-in that should have prevented the continuous rapid rotation of the rollers during cleaning.