Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120274451 - David Strawn

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At 5:20 p.m. on February 10, 2000, Employee #1 was working for a homeowner as a gardener in a custom-made home with a large, luxurious backyard. The house was located on a sloping hill below the street. Employee #1 was using a gas powered wood chipper with an 8-horsepower, internal combustion Briggs & Stratton motor, Model Number 195432. The chipping machine was placed next to the house on the east side of the street between the mail boxes. According to Employee #1, he had just finished cutting down the five eucalyptus trees at the left side of the house. His coworker was about ten feet away, cutting and bringing the branches to him to load into the 43-inch-high hopper. Employee #1 was removing the accumulation of shredded materials near the exposed blade at the discharge chute when a piece of 0.25-inch branch kicked back and pulled his left glove into the spinning blade. Employee #1 sustained a shredded left hand from the finger tips up to his wrist. The rod for bolting down the blade's service door was missing, exposing the spinning blade. There were no actual witnesses to the accident. The homeowner's wife was inside the house during the accident. Employee #1 was not trained. The causal factor which contributed to the accident included the employer's failure in preventing the use of the wood chipper with a missing safety device. Employee #1 sustained a shredded left hand as the result of contact with the shredding blade of a wood chipper, and was transported to Palomar Hospital by emergency vehicle for medical treatment. He was hospitalized for three days.

Keywords: BRUSH CHIPPER, AMPUTATED, FINGER, CAUGHT BY, LACERATION, BLADE, HAND