Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119825867 - Amro Fabricating Corp.

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:00 p.m. on November 3, 2000, Employee # 1, an employee of Amro Fabricating located in Monte, California, lost his left ring finger while using a hydraulic shear. Two Amro employees witnessed the incident. The model number of the shear was 375R. At the time of the incident, Employee #1 had been working for Amro Fabricating for about seven months. The training records indicated that Employee #1 had been trained as a fork lift operator but not as a shear or press break operator. Employee #1 was picking up scrap metal behind the pacific hydraulic shear when one witness asked Employee #1 to cut two pieces of metal on the pacific hydraulic shear, which is capable of shearing 0.75 in. aluminum or 0.5 in. steel plate. Employee #1 said he had operated the shear before so he said "sure". Employee #1 laid out the cuts on a 14 foot by 6 inch piece of 12 gauge mild steel. Employee #1 then positioned the metal that needed to be cut. Employee #1 used his left hand with the fingers spread out on the metal piece to be cut. Employee #1 had his foot on the pedal and must have accidentally pushed the pedal. When the pedal was activated, the hold down clamps came down first to hold the metal in place. Then, the shear cuts the metal. When the hold down clamps came down, they smashed his left ring finger and grazed his left little finger. The point of operation was guarded by two sets of fixed guards. The set nearest to the point of operation was constructed of expanded metal. The set of guards nearest to the operator was solid metal. The set of guards nearest to the operator had two sections where the operator was working removed prior to the accident. The horizontal distance from the remaining set of guards to the hold down clamps was 0.375 of an inch, and the vertical distance from the bottom of the guard to the top of the metal to be cut was 1.5 inches. This distance allowed the operator to place his fingers in the danger area. Employee #1 was first transported to the Health Care Partners Clinic. After that, he went to the Western Hand Center where he was treated for the amputation of his left ring finger and the laceration of the left little finger.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, SHEAR, FINGER, HYDRAULIC TOOL