Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1553825.015 - Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Inspection Information - Office: Norfolk Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:30 a.m. on September 8, 2021, an employee working as a lathe operator for a naval shipyard was working in the B234 2nd floor welding lab machine shop. The employee was running a Cincinnati Manual Industrial Lathe (Serial Number #550125-T0070) in support of welder training. The employee was polishing the outside diameter of a 1-inch carbon steel pipe fastened into the work hold device of the lathe. He was using an Emory cloth wrapped around the pipe as it rotated. The employee was wearing cut resistant work gloves, which were prohibited by the job safety analysis. Using both hands, one on each end of the emery cloth, the employee straddled the pipe with the cloth arranged in a horseshoe to polish the entire surface of the pipe. The employee then put pressure on the cloth by pulling it towards him in a sawing motion. The employee caught his right hand in the rotating pipe. The employee was hospitalized to treat an amputation to his index finger.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Carbon Steel, Caught In, Cloth, Engineering Controls, Finger, Glove, Hand, Hazard Assessment, Incorrect Equipment, Inexperience, Instantaneous amputation, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lathe, Machine Guarding, Machine Shop, Machine operator, Metal Lathe, Metal Pipe, PPE, PPE Hazard Assessment, Pipe, Polishing, Rotating Parts, Steel, Training, Traumatic Amputation, Welder, Wrong Equipment