Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1704065.015 - Oldcastle Apg South, Inc. Dba Northfield Block Company

Inspection Information - Office: Naperville Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:00 p.m. on October 16, 2023, an employee was working as machine operator for a paving plant. The employee and a coworker were cleaning a screw conveyor system consisting of three sections. The cleaning operation required that the employees remove waste aggregate mix material that accumulates during the manufacturing process. The equipment was located on east exterior wall of the building. They were cleaning the third section of the equipment. The coworker was operating a gas-powered forklift with a mounted work platform. The employee was working on the forklift mounted work platform that was raised approximately 18 feet above ground level. The employee was using a pneumatic chisel to remove the residual material from inside the trough housing surrounding the screw auger. The employee exited the enclosure of the work platform to break the aggregate material free. He had his legs on the top of the trough area with an unguarded screw auger. The electric motor of the equipment unexpectedly energized, and the screw auger rotated, resulting in the employee's legs being caught between the auger and trough housing. Emergency medical services responded and were able to free the employee and transport him to the hospital. The coworker did not witness the incident because of limited visibility while seated in his forklift. No other witnesses could be identified. The employee's lower left leg was amputated, and his lower right leg was partially amputated. The employee required surgery to amputate his lower right extremity leg the following day due to the nature of his injuries. On October 18, 2023, the employee died as a result of his injuries.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Auger, Auger Mechanism, Caught Between, Cleaning, Concrete, Energized, Instantaneous amputation, Insufficient Supervision, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lack of Work Procedures, Leg, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine Cycled, Machine operator, Partial Amputation, Surgical Amputation, Traumatic Amputation