Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1461991.015 - Beer Nuts, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Peoria Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:10 p.m. on February 5, 2020, an employee working as a machine operator for a snack food manufacturer was changing packaging film in a packaging machine in preparation for a product change. The employee had re-energized the equipment to string the film through the machine. The film became jammed near the cutter, so the employee turned the equipment off. The employer reported that they thought the employee had locked out the machine. The employee proceeded to pull the film through the cutter with his right hand. He had his left hand was on the cutting mechanism at this time. The employer reports that they thought the employee manually pushed the cutter to trim off the damaged film. The employee had his right hand in front of the cutter blade when he struck the cutter with his hand. The employee amputated his right index fingertip and was hospitalized.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Blade, Catch Point, Caught By, Cutting, Finger, Fingertip, Hand, Instantaneous amputation, Jammed, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine operator, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Partial Amputation, Pinch Point, Plastic, Safety Device, Traumatic Amputation