Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1568420.015 - Gunnoe Sausage Company

Inspection Information - Office: Va-E-Lynchburg (Field Office) - Safety 0355117

Investigation Summary

At 1:45 p.m. on December 7, 2021, an employee was engaged in sticking and washing hogs when a coworker requested his assistance. A piece of hide was not long enough to reach the hook on the backside of the Vertical Hydraulic Hog Skinner. As the employee was manipulating the hide in an attempt to get it on the hook to hold it in place, the machine activated and caught the tip of his left pinky finger between the roller and the pyramid on the press. The coworker was near the controls of the machine when it activated. The employee was not sure how the machine was activated. There were no guards in place to prevent employees from sticking their hands in between the roller and the pyramid on the press. There were no hand tools provided to assist in getting the hide between those two objects onto the hook present on the other side of the machine. The employee lost all the skin and flesh on his left pinky fingertip below the first knuckle after the fingernail. The employee was taken to the hospital and admitted. The bone below his knuckle was amputated.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Animal, Caught In, Degloving, Finger, Fingertip, Food processing, Guard, Hand Tool, Knuckle, Machine Cycled, Machine Guarding, Machine operator, Meat Processing, Partial Amputation, Pinched