Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126073832 - Romero'S Food Products, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:40 p.m. on June 29, 1999, an accident occurred in the chip department, located at the west-side of the main production area of Romero's Food Product in Santa Fe Springs, California. The company is engaged in manufacturing a wide variety of Mexican food, such as corn and flour tortillas, tacos and tostada shells, Mexican sweet bread, and tortilla chips. The company makes about 16,000 pounds of food product every hour. The production is on 24 hours a day in three different work shifts. At the time of the accident, the employee was engaged in removing excess dough from the chips die cut roller machine. While doing this, he accidentally got his left middle and ring fingers caught in between the nip point created by rollers running in opposite direction. Due to this incident, the employee's left middle finger was lacerated and amputated at the mid-distal phalanx. The left ring finger received serious lacerations. The employee was taken to Valley View Medical by the employer for treatment and observation. Upon interviewing the employer and reviewing the documents and inspecting the machine, it was determined that the accident was caused by operating the die cut roller machine without any guards that would have prevented the inadvertent entry of the victim's fingers at the in-running nip point created by the rolls of that machinery rotating in an opposite direction.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, MACHINIST, ROLLER--MACH/PART, CAUGHT BETWEEN, LACERATION, NIP POINT, UNGUARDED