Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1552750.015 - Cascades Holding Us Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Iowa 0751910

Investigation Summary

At 12:09 a.m. on September 6, 2021, an employee was working as a machine feeder for paper products manufacturer. The employee was working with a coworker trying to clear the Line 3 molded pulp products machine. The machine was either jammed or misaligned at the packaging area molder and stacker in the conveyor belt upstream of the stackers. During this time, the employee was standing at stacker 4 at the digital counter labeled "S-15" attempting to clear out a small piece of product. The product blocked the sensor eye at the very bottom of the metal push plate. The sensor eye is powered by compressed air and senses the presence of any object. The air pushes the molded pulp products out at the end of the stacker along the rails by a metal push plate. The employee had his right hand near the sensor while holding onto the back wall of the chute just above the metal push plate with his left hand. He had his left-hand fingers bent inside the chute where the metal push plate moves. There is a 5/8-inch gap between the metal push plate and chute wall when the former is at rest. He positioned his hand this way to catch and block the molded pulp products from further falling in front of the metal push plate. Since he hadn't blocked and released the compressed air to the metal push plate by turning the switch, the employee caught his fingers between the moving metal push plate and chute wall. The employee received medical treatment without hospitalization for a crushed and lacerated middle fingertip and a crushed index finger which required surgical amputation.

Keywords: Air Pressure, Amputated, Amputation, Caught Between, Chute, Conveyor, Crushed, Extended Work Shift, Feeding, Finger, Fingertip, Fracture, Hand, High Pressure, Insufficient Supervision, Jammed, Laceration, Lack of Work Procedures, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine Guarding, Machine operator, Manufacturing, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Paper, Pinch Point, Pinched, Production Line, Surgical Amputation, Unsafe Position