Inspection Detail

Inspection: 127364883 - Chesapeake Publishing Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a pressman, had just changed over to a new 27 in. wide paper roll on a Gross Urbanite web press, #5005, that was running a single web. The press had just started up and was in slow walk speed; the splice had not yet entered the end of the #3 unit, when Employee #1 saw a piece of scrap paper in the unit. He reached in to pick out the scrap when his right hand became caught between the #13 plate roll and the #12 blanket roll. The third, fourth, and fifth fingers of his right hand were amputated, and the skin on his wrist was abraded. This topside in-running nip point was unguarded, which is normal for this production machine. Employee #1 was not wearing gloves or a long-sleeved, button-at-the-wrist work shirt. Although the employer provided training in the use of safe-switches for operations and production work, not every stop-safe rule was enforced. A safe-switch was not in use at the time of the accident.

Keywords: PRINTING PRESS, AMPUTATED, STOP SWITCH, FINGER, WORK RULES, LOCKOUT, ROLLER--MACH/PART, CAUGHT BETWEEN, NIP POINT, PRESS