Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. OSHA citation items will be posted 30 (thirty) days after the employer receives the citation(s), except in cases of significant public interest. Posted citation items reflect any amendments to citations that are the result of a prompt settlement, which OSHA encourages. Employers and employee representatives will continue to receive copies of the citation(s) upon issuance.

Inspection: 1554517.015 - Pharaoh Staffing Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At 9:00 p.m. on September 20, 2021, an employee working for a staffing service was working as a packer for a company that provides custom packaging of prepared vitamins and supplements. The employee was operating the Dasong Stick Pack Machine D-19. The machine operates by placing powder in a hopper which fills packages with 4-inch by ?-inch small flexible plastic tubes. A heated die element then pinches and heat seals the top and bottom edges of the packages. Following this, the packages go into a basket and then go to quality assurance for inspection before being boxed. A coworker who was the employee's supervisor was the quality control technician on the second shift. The coworker assigned the employee to operate machine D-19. The employee said it was the first time she had operated this particular machine. She started running the machine at approximately 4:00 p.m. The employee said the machine had issues, was dirty, and the heated die blade that seals and cuts the stick packs jams and does not seal correctly. She also said there was no maintenance technician free on the shift to address the issues. The employee also stated that the interlock on the machine did not work so she was running the machine with the door open. The employee said she pushed the stop button, but it did not work, and that she had not been trained about how the emergency stop button functions. The employee placed her right hand into the machine try to remove jammed material and to clean the machine. The employee said she thought the machine was off as she tried to clear the debris and powder but the die blade closed on her index fingertip. The employee did not know about LOTO and that she had no training on LOTO. The machine had no guarding on the sides and top of the danger zone and the die blade could be contacted. The employee was wearing nitrile gloves and a surgical mask while operating the machine. The employee was hospitalized to treat an amputation to her finger requiring surgery.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Caught In, Danger Area, Danger Zone, Die, Die Blades, Engineering Controls, Finger, Fingertip, Food processing, Hand, Inadequate Maint, Instantaneous amputation, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine Guarding, Machine operator, Maintenance, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Packaging, Packaging Machine, Packaging Machinery, Partial Amputation, Sealing Machine, Staffing Agency, Temporary, Temporary Employment Agency, Temporary Worker, Training, Traumatic Amputation