Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120317193 - Samco Scientific Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Van Nuys District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:50 a.m. on March 21, 2003, Employee #1, a team leader, was working at a manufacturing plant. The machines are custom made onsite by Samco. The base machine is a plastic blow-molding machine. As the plastic is blown down, the die closes around it, and air pressure expands the plastic. Water is pumped in to the die to cool the hot plastic. The die opens and a pipet is ejected on to a conveyor. Operators remove excess flashing from the pipet and pack them into boxes. Team Leaders are mechanics in charge of the operation of up to 6 machines. Operators report any operating problems to the team leader so the team leader can take corrective action. Employee #1 was adjusting the chutes for machine Number 17. The chutes are the areas where the pipets drop down in to after they are ejected from the die. A plastic protective cover must be moved to make adjustments. It is interlocked and stops any movement of the machine while adjustments are made. Employee #1 placed a screwdriver into the interlock to bypass the safety feature. As the machine started the die closed and pinched Employee #1's left index finger. He received an open fracture to his left index finger and was hospitalized.

Keywords: FRACTURE, MAINTENANCE, FINGER, MOLDING MACHINE, CAUGHT BY, LOCKOUT, CAUGHT BETWEEN, NIP POINT, UNGUARDED