Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1572075.015 - Bulldog Rack Company

Inspection Information - Office: Columbus Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:30 p.m. on January 4, 2022, Employee #1 was operating an employer-fabricated machine to drill holes in pieces of I-beams. The machine was referred to as the Auto Drilling machine. It had two motors, which transferred power to two drill bits for each motor. The overall width of the machine was 13 feet and 6 inches, and the working width was 10 feet and 11 inches. The depth was 2 feet and 4 inches, and the distance from the front edge to the point of operation was approximately 18 inches. The height from the floor to the rollers was 38.5 inches. The drill bits each were 7/8 of an inch. After placing a section of I-beam in the machine, employees pushed a button to start the drills moving downward. The bits automatically raised after the holes were drilled, but there was another button to raise the bits, if necessary. While the machine was running and the bits were still rotating, employees were instructed to remove the I-beam, turn it over and rotate it, and then reinsert it into the machine to repeat the process on the other side of the beam. The machine did not have guarding around the point of operation. Employee #1 reached into the machine to move the I-beam while the machine was running. His glove became caught in the rotating bits of the machine, and his right hand and arm were pulled into the machine. A coworker saw what happened and hit all the stop buttons on the machine. Employee #1 sustained fractures to his right hand and wrist and was hospitalized.

Keywords: Arm, Beam, Caught In, Drill, Drill Bit, Drill Operator, Drill Press, Fracture, Glove, Hand, Machine operator, Point Of Operation, Rotating Drill Bit, Rotating Parts, Start Button, Unguarded, Wrist