Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1578519.015 - Thk Rhythm Automotive Michigan Corporation

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

Investigation Summary

At 11:45 a.m. on February 1, 2022, an employee was working for a firm that manufactured motor vehicle steering and suspension components. He was operating a forging machine. He was running steel rods in an upsetting machine. Just as he actuated the machine's foot pedal, he lost his grip on the steel rod. The steel rod fell out of the cavity of the gather die as the employee was loading it. The punch die struck the steel rod while it was out of alignment with the gather die cavity. The force from the strike of the punch die caused the part to bend up against the framework of the machine, at the machine's backstop. The steel rod pinched the employee's fingers between the part and the frame of the upsetting machine. The employee suffered the amputation of the tip of the middle finger on his left hand and the avulsion of the tip of the ring finger on that hand. He was treated without hospitalization.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Avulsion, Degloving, Die, Finger, Fingertip, Foot pedal, Hand, Lost Control, Machine Cycled, Machine Shop, Machine operator, Pinched