Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1497749.015 - Ivex Protective Packaging Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Toledo Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 2:30 a.m. on October 6, 2020, an employee was attempting to unjam the plastic on the ZTECH air bubble film machine (cold chain bagger). The employee was operating the ZTECH air bubble film machine to make plastic air bubble bags used for cold chain shipping material. The machine uses flat rolls of air bubble plastic, which gets folded and sealed to the customer's desired length and cut in the middle of the seal to form the individual bags. The plastic needs to feed under a metal bar to get to the portion of the machine where the blade cuts the plastic and frequently jams at the bar location. At the time of the incident, the plastic had jammed at the bar behind the blade and the employee reached in through the exit area to attempt to dislodge the plastic. The machine was still running when the employee performed this action. While his hand was still in the end of the machine, the machine cycled, and the blade came down cutting the tip of the employee's right index finger off. The employee took himself to the emergency room and later had surgery to attach a skin graft and close the wound on the finger. The tip of the employee's right index finger was amputated but he was not hospitalized.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Blade, Finger, Fingertip, Hand, Jammed, Machine Cycled, Plastic, Reaching In