Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300778933 - Buddy Bar Casting

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:15 p.m. on January 4, 2002, an accident occurred to an employee working as a molder/machine operator at a foundry that produces aluminum engine components. At the time of the accident, the employee was working at the "Westbrook" line in the molding area of the facility. At this point in the process, the top portion of empty foundry flasks, called the "cope" (measuring 22-inches wide by 32-inches deep by 8-inches high), are placed over a mold and filled with sand. This sand is then compacted, and the cope, which weighs approximately 100 pounds, is manually pushed by employees along a roller conveyor to a point where it is lifted by a 0.5-ton hoist. A lip on the rollers prevents the cope from straying off, but the space between the rollers is large enough to allow the cope to fall through. It was at this point, where the cope is manually pushed that the accident occurred. The employee began pushing the cope with both hands placed on the top portion. When he had proceeded with the cope approximately half way down the roller conveyor, he stated that he felt the cope "jiggle" just before it fell through the open space between the rollers pinching the little finger of his left hand in between the top of the cope and the rollers nearest him. The injured employee was taken to Santa Fe Springs Industrial Clinic where he was treated for a fracture to his left little finger. He was subsequently treated at Western Hand Center where the injured finger was amputated between the first and second knuckle on January 18, due to necrosis that had developed. The roller conveyor was not of adequate design to prevent the cope from falling through the spacing between the rollers.

Keywords: FRACTURE, AMPUTATED, FINGER, MOLDING MACHINE, CAUGHT BY, ROLLER CONVEYOR, ENGINE, CONVEYOR, FALLING OBJECT, HAND