Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1450492.015 - Intermountain Electronics

Inspection Information - Office: Denver Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 6:30 a.m. on December 10, 2019, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured mining machinery and equipment. He was working as a machine operator. He was operating a Bridgeport milling machine, when he reached for a rag that had been left on the work surface. The employee's right hand made contact with rotating parts of milling machine. Three fingers on his right hand; the small, ring, and middle fingers; were partially amputated. The employee was hospitalized. During the inspection, the firm's corporate HSE (health, safety, and environmental) manager, speculated that the employee had been holding the rag. The employee was possibly trying to move the rag away from the spinning milling machine parts when the rag came in contact with the spinning bit. The manager said that the only part that spins with this type of Bridgeport milling machine was the bit itself. The chuck does not rotate as with other milling machines. The company was phasing this machine out. He said that the spinning part rotated clockwise.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught By, Drill Bit, Finger, Hand, Machine Guarding, Machine Shop, Machine operator, Milling Machine, Partial Amputation, Reach, Reaching, Rotating Drill Bit, Rotating Parts, Traumatic Amputation