Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1493799.015 - Gvs Filtration, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Toledo Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 3:30 a.m. on September 12, 2020, an employee working as a machine operator for a surgical supply manufacturer was loading a new roll of material onto a half-ton pneumatic click-press. The press is used to make foam inserts for N-99 respirators. The employee was assigned to operate the machine for the first time. After approximately five hours, and after she had installed a new roll of material for production, the material became bunched up behind the guard. The employee began to pull on the material from the exit side of the guard and inadvertently reached past the guard at a time when the point-of-operation (POO) for the press lowered. The guard was moveable with openings that did not prevent the employee from accessing the POO. There were no witnesses to the incident. The employee partially amputated her left-hand three middle fingers and received medical treatment without hospitalization.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught In, Finger, Inexperience, Instantaneous amputation, Lack of Engineering Controls, Machine Guarding, Machine operator, Partial Amputation, Pinch Point, Pinched, Pneumatic press, Press Operator, Shear, Sheared, Traumatic Amputation