Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119823003 - Horizon Milling Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 5:45 a.m. on October, 26, 2002, Employee #1 was working for Horizon Milling as a shift miller. A total of 21 roller stands, manufactured by Witt Roller Mill, were observed on the second floor grinding area where wheat is processed into flour products. The roller stands were designed to be equipped with small mesh-gear like blades located underneath the rollers as its grinding mechanism. There is also a nip guard designed to be placed on top of the rollers as a point-of-operation guard so that employees can be protected from the nip point. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was doing his routine check on the grinding process at the grinding area when he noticed chokes on the B-mill due to high moisture of the wheat. As he propped open a feeder gate on the 4BK-1 roller stand, attempting to clear the chokes, the open-loop wires, used as hinge on the gate, broke loose. The employee attempted to catch the feeder gate from falling into the running rollers when both the gate and his left hand were pulled through the running rollers. Chokes normally occur when the flour moisture content exceeds the normal rating of 13.2. As part of a shift miller's job duties, Employee #1 would prop open the feeder gate to check the status of the grinding process every two hours or so to make sure the operation was running smoothly. When a choke is detected, a pressurized air hose is used to clear the jam or employees can tap on the spout to clear out stock. It was suspected that someone might have removed the nip guard on roller stand 4BK-1 prior to the accident. Emergency medical services transported Employee #1 to Beverly Hospital where he hospitalized for an amputation of the left thumb.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FOOD PREPARATION, ROLLER CONVEYOR, THUMB, JAMMED, MILLING MACHINE, CAUGHT BETWEEN, BLADE