Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1467723.015 - The Hc Companies, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Nv-E-Reno 0953210

Investigation Summary

At 10:00 a.m. on March 5, 2020, an employee was working as a laborer for a firm that manufactured plastics products. He was working on the facility's "thermo forming" line. He was stacking plastic planter pots near the TF3 trim press. This was a standard job duty for him. The press had jammed, and the employee was adjusting the stack of pots to clear the jam. As he was guiding the stock of plastic planter pots on the TF3 machine, he reached into the point of operation. One account said that he reached with his right hand, and another account said that he reached with his left hand. In either case, his thumb was amputated. He was hospitalized. The lack of machine guarding exposed employees to a shearing hazard. After incident, the employer fully guarded the TF3 machine to prevent access to the point at which the amputation occurred. The employer was previously cited for a violation of the same standard or its equivalent. See OSHA inspection number 1309493, citation 01, item o2. The final order of this inspection was dated July 18, 2018.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Hand, Instantaneous amputation, Jammed, Laborer, Machine Guarding, Plastic Mfg, Point Of Operation, Press, Reach, Reaching, Shear, Thumb, Traumatic Amputation