Inspection Detail

Inspection: 102458791 - Bair Tool & Die, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Cincinnati Area Office

Investigation Summary

The employer, a manufacturer of power press dies, acquired a Minster full-revolution mechanical power press. Once a set of dies was manufactured, the dies were put in the press and parts were run so that tolerances could be checked to determine the quality and accuracy of the dies. When the press was originally acquired, it was activated by means of two hand trips. Approximately one year before the accident, a truck struck the right palm button, pulling the conduit and the shroud around the button loose. The employer contends that, from that point on, the press could be activated with only the palm button, and that no rewiring was done to allow the press to be operated in this manner. Approximately two to three weeks before the accident the employer agreed to run a production job for another company. The other company provided the dies and the stock to run the parts on the Minster press. The die was a two-stage die, necessitating that the employee place the stock in the first stage die, trip the press, move the part to the second stage of the dies, put another piece of stock in the first stage die, trip the press, remove the finished piece from the second stage and repeat the process. One employee had run the production job for part of two days when he noticed problems. The press would not trip when the one button was hit, the button would have to be hit twice before the press would trip or, at other times, the press would trip twice when the button was hit only once. This was reported to the owner who (1) adjusted the air to the cylinder which tripped the press and provided a dedicated air line rather than piggybacking it from another press, (2) tightened the spring or bolt on the drag brake and (3) sprayed WD-40 on the one button being used to trip the press in case it was "sticking". A second employee ran the production job the next week and continued to experience double tripping problems with the press. On December 28, 2000, Employee #1 ran another 2000 parts without experiencing any double tripping. The following day, Employee #1 had run the job for approximately two hours when the press double tripped, amputating the tips of his fore-, middle-, and ring-fingers.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, POWER PRESS, FINGER