Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1565665.015 - Hydraulic Tubes And Fittings Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Miosha General Industry Safety & Health Division

Investigation Summary

At 7:00 a.m. on November 3, 2021, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured fabricated pipes and pipe fittings. He was running production on an Eagle CNC bender. He had operated the bender on an as-needed basis since he had been hired fifteen years earlier. The machine had a safety mat on the floor approximately 3 feet by 4 feet (0.9 m by 1.2 m) in size. The employee was standing off the mat to the side wiping oil off the tubing, while the tubing was in the bender. The machine, running in automatic mode, cycled. The bender's clamp closed on employee's right hand, crushing it. The employee suffered a laceration to the ring and little fingers on his right hand. His little finger was surgically amputated to right hand little finger. The employee was treated without hospitalization. After the incident, the safety mat was replaced with an area scanner presence-sensing device and guardrails around the back side of the bender. A Unison CNC bender that the firm had purchased by the firm about 5 to 7 years earlier was equipped with an area scanner and full barrier guarding to prevent employees from getting too close to the machine during operation.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Bending Machine, Caught By, Caught In, Clamp, Computer Operated, Crushed, Finger, Hand, Machine Cycled, Machine Guarding, Machine operator, Metal Pipe, Metal Shop