UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Inspection: 2827038 - Mack Trucks Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Maryland Region 2

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was operating a La Maines three-station Rehnberg-Jacobson drill and tapper, #1759, in Department 110. At the machine's first and second stations, holes were drilled into engine blocks. At the third station, the holes were tapped, threading them in and out of the machine. The engine blocks were fed into the stations by hand. Employee #1 was having trouble pushing engine blocks into the drill at the first station; several of the rollers were worn and the engine blocks had to be pushed very hard. After showing this problem to his supervisor, Employee #1 went to the third station and pushed in an engine block. He pushed too hard and it went too far into the machine. He put his left hand on top of the engine block and pulled it back, put the clamps down, and began bringing the tapper head down. When he realized that his glove was caught between the clamp and the engine block, Employee #1 reversed the operation, raising the tapper head and the clamps. He removed his hand from the top of the engine block and completed the operation. When Employee #1 returned to the first station, he noticed that blood was running from his left glove and found that the tip of his little finger had been amputated. He was hospitalized for his injuries. He had been working overtime on the day of the accident. He had not been performing his regular duties, but had operated the La Maines machine sporadically for the past 13 years. During that time, he had also trained others in its operation. He explained that he had always told them to keep their hands off the top of the engine block, but that he placed his hand there sometimes.

Keywords:amputated, finger, glove, work rules, caught by, drill press, press operator