Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1306569.015 - Century Foods International, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Madison Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on April 2, 2018, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured miscellaneous foods. She was working in a dairy powder blending packaging plant. She and a coworker were working on a pouching machine. She was cleaning sealer bars inside the pouching machine. Her coworker was working inside of the machine on one end. He was clearing packaging out of a knife that cut the packaging off. Just prior to entering the machine, he used a key to turn off the machine's door interlocks. The employee was working inside the machine approximately 2.1 meters (7 feet) away on the other end. She was cleaning off heated sealer bars that sealed the packaging closed. Once her coworker had cleared the knife jam, he went to start the machine up. At the time, the employee was still working inside the machine, cleaning the heated sealer bars. When the machine started up, the sealer bars closed. The index finger on the employee's right hand became caught in between the sealer bars. Her finger was amputated. The narrative did not state whether she was hospitalized. Factors that may have contributed to the incident were not utilizing lock out procedures and disabling interlocks. This was an unexpected startup.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught Between, Cleaning, Finger, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Maintenance, Mech Mat Handling, Work Rules