UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

The equipment that injured Employee #1 is the discharge end of an FMC pressure cooker/cooler. Product is introduced into cans in the filler. From the filler, the cans containing the product are moved by conveyor to the vacuum syruper, where a top is applied to the can and the can is sealed. From the seamer the cans are transported to the cooker, cooked, and sent to the cooler. The cans are removed from the cooler by a unit attached to the end of the cooler. The unit is equipped with two safety switches that shut off the entire cooker/cooler unit in the event that the cans jam. One of the safety switches is actuated by the weight of the jammed cans. The other is a mercury-type switch that functions like the mercury switch in a thermostat. The weight-dependent switch can be actuated by hand. According to Employee #1, on the day he was injured the machine had been constantly jamming with cans. During a jam-up, the employee used his hand to attempt to remove a can when another can jammed, pushing his hand into the rotating member that discharges the can out of the cooler. The cause of the accident was the failure of the employee to manually activate the safety switch that would have shut down the entire line.