Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1425602.015 - Pepperidge Farm, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Naperville Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:30 a.m. on July 29, 2019, an employee was talking to Coworker #1 (Machine Operator) when Coworker #2 (Trainee) notified him that the sugar bin was empty. The employee asked Coworker #2 if he had pushed the stop button to close the slide gate so sugar would not spill out onto the floor. Coworker #2 could not remember so the employee asked Coworker #2 to turn off the air. After Coworker #2 turned off the air, the employee hit the stop button and did not hear the typical sounds of the slide gate closing, so he looked at the air lever and saw that it was in the horizontal (air off) position. The employee inserted his right hand through the openings in the grated covering of the sifter and extended his middle finger up into the slide gate area in order to confirm by touch that the slide gate was closed. Because the gate was open, the employee slide his finger beyond the slide gate opening and he felt a pinch and heard the sound of the air and the sound of the slide gate closing. The employee then told Coworker #2 to turn the air back on and then hit the green start button to open the gate to release his hand. The employee crushed his middle fingertip and was hospitalized, later requiring surgical amputation to the first joint.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Bypass Guard, Caught By, Crushed, Finger, Food processing, Gate, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine operator, Malfunction, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Partial Amputation, Pinched, Pneumatic, Pneumatic equipment, Pneumatic system, Point Of Operation, Safety Device, Sheared, Struck By, Training