Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1536512.015 - Thieme Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Naperville Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 7:50 a.m. on May 18, 2021, an employee working as a machinery maintenance technician was removing the side cover on a chiller unit. The unit is equipped with a primary and secondary fan and the employee needed to assess the feasibility of installing a sound baffle. The employee reached up into the area between the primary and secondary fans in order to determine the appropriate size baffle needed based upon the internal configuration of the unit. The secondary fan started up unexpectedly pulling the employee's right hand into the moving blades. The employee did not lockout the unit prior to inspection because he wanted to be able to feel the airflow of the fan with his hand. The employee amputated his index finger to second knuckle, his thumb and severely lacerated his ring finger. The employee was hospitalized and the thumb was surgically reattached requiring pins and the ring finger required surgical insertion of pins as well.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught In, Energized, Fan, Fan Blade, Finger, Instantaneous amputation, Knuckle, Laceration, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine Cycled, Maintenance, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Noise, Partial Amputation, Pulled In, Reaching In, Shear, Sheared, Technician, Thumb, Traumatic Amputation