UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. Please be aware that the information shown may change, e.g. violations may be added or deleted. For open cases, in which a citation has been issued, the citation information may not be available for 5 days following receipt by the employer for Federal inspections or for 30 days following receipt by the employer for State inspections.

Inspection: 1576930.015 - Central Valley Meat Co., Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Ca Fresno

Investigation Summary

At 9:00 p.m. on January 31 2022, an employee was working in the grinding room as a Sanitation Lead during the sanitation shift in a beef processing plant. The e mployee was responsible for ensuring that the sanitation work in this area was c ompleted to the company standards and in a timely manner. The employee was filli ng the position for an absent employee and was responsible for cleaning the FPEC Model 2876 Single Screw Auger in the grinding room. An access panel on the back of the machine needed to be removed to clean debris from the chain and sprocket drive that drove the auger. The employee turned off the equipment prior to begi nning cleaning activities and placed a tag on the equipment controls but no lock was used. The employee had loaned his assigned lock to another employee a day e arlier. Once the access panel was removed, the employee used a water nozzle and a screwdriver to pry away at the debris and clean the equipment. The employee en countered difficulty removing debris that was wrapped around the shaft so he pro ceeded to turn the equipment on to assist with removal while using a high-pressu re water nozzle. The employee's sleeve was caught and drawn into the gear and sp rocket drive for the auger drawing his left hand into the machine. The employee reached in with his right hand to attempt to free his left hand, causing his rig ht hand to also be drawn into the sprocket gear as a result. The employee amputa ted his left hand at the wrist. On the right hand, the employee's middle finger was fully amputated and the fourth and fifth fingers were partially amputated. C oworkers responded to the incident and applied a tourniquet to the employee's ha nd. The employee was taken by ambulance and admitted to a local hospital. The em ployee was referred to another medical facility where he underwent multiple surg eries to reattach the amputated hand and fingers.

Keywords:amputated, amputation, auger, auger mechanism, caught by, caught in, chain, energized, finger, food processing, hand, inexperience, lockout, lockout/tagout, meat grinder, meat processing, misjudgement, misjudgement of