Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1395732.015 - Ultratec Special Effects (Hsv) Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Birmingham Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:00 p.m. on April 18, 2019, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured miscellaneous chemical products and preparations. She was filling loading cup on the firm's universal swing arm press Number USAP2 with pyrotechnic material, 57mm (2.25-inch) LD orange nitrate product. The press was one of two located in the firm's Building A8. They were custom-designed, proprietary equipment. There was a gap in the glass acrylic (plexiglass) guard that allowed workers to get two fingers in between the hydraulic ram and the loading cup. When the worker pushed the cycle button, the ram came down into the cup, and the needles on the bottom mandrel came up through the cup. The ram moved down and up as part of an automated cycle. The operator controls did not require both hands to initiate the cycle, and the pushbutton did not have to be held down to complete the cycle. On this occasion, the fingertips of the employee's middle and ring fingers on her right hand were amputated when her fingers were inadvertently in the danger zone. She was not hospitalized. For abatement, the employer replaced the guards to minimize the gap, so that fingertips could not fit into the gap.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Die, Finger, Fingertip, Hydraulic Press, Machine Guarding, Press, Ram