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: 1663540.015 - Precision Strip, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Toledo

Investigation Summary

At 5:40 p.m. on April 14, 2023, an employee, an assistant operator, was attempting to clear a jam at stacker #2 on the energized 905 blanker line. As the employee noticed a jam on stacker #1 and stacker #2, he opened #2's stacker gate and entered the machine's enclosure six times in a 12-minute period to clear the product jams. In the course of this work activity inside the cell, the employee, in an upright position, placed his head/neck between the flipper arm and the conveyor on multiple occasions. When the main operator returned to his control console, he stopped the conveyor and actuated the 100 psi pneumatic "flipper" arm located in stacker #2, causing it to rapidly move upward into a closed position. The employee's neck was caught in this pinch point created by the flipper arm and feed conveyor system. The main operator then returned to the employee's control panel and engaged the hydraulic lifting arm to raise a section of the conveyor above stacker #1. The main operator, unaware that the assistant operator was caught in the conveyor, continued to clear the jam in stacker #1 before lowering the conveyor back down. After returning to the assistant's control panel located to the right of the stacker's access gate, the main operator discovered the assistant operator caught in the machine. Perrysburg Township Fire Department pronounced the employee dead on scene.

Keywords:actuated, caught in, clearing, conveyor, crushed, head, hydraulic, jammed, neck, pinch point, pneumatic