Inspection Detail

Inspection: 111974861 - Pepsi Cola

Inspection Information - Office: Santa Ana District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 3:00 a.m. on February 5, 1991, Employee #1, of Pepsi Cola, was emptying a refuse container into a large trash bin. The container was mounted on the forks of an industrial truck. He had unfastened the container latch with his left hand and was pushing the container bottom with his right hand to tilt it, when the container fell. His right thumb was caught between the bar and the container, and amputated. Employee #1 said that the container was full of cans that made the bottom heavy and hard to tilt. He said that this was his regularly assigned job and that he had followed proper procedures, but the container was just too heavy. To prevent a recurrence of this accident, the employer replaced the current containers with smaller ones. The employer also held a safety meeting the day of the accident to inform affected employees of what had happened and to discuss with them the procedure and the use of the new, smaller containers. There was no violation noted.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, THUMB, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, FALLING OBJECT