Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300799947 - Golden Valley Dairy Products

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

At 9:20 a.m. on February 16, 2000, Employee #1, a slabber operator at a cheese packaging company, was working on line #2, on which 640 lb blocks of cheese were placed at the beginning of the process line. Each block was first cut and then lowered by three forks onto the conveyor line. The forks fit exactly into the area, with conveyor belts on either side that moved the cheese down the line to be cut into smaller blocks. A small piece of cheese became caught on the conveyor and Employee #1 was reaching in to remove it when the loading forks came down with a new slab of cheese. His left index finger became caught between the first fork and the side conveyor and was amputated at the first joint. Employee #1 had not deenergized the machine before attempting to clear the jam. He had received lockout training approximately four months prior to the accident and was also trained on this line to de-energize the machine when removing the butt end or jammed pieces. Employee #1 later stated that he normally shut down the machine from the operator's control station to remove pieces of cheese. The employer was cited for a regulatory violation of T8CCR 342(a), for failure to report the accident within eight hours, and a general violation of T8CCR 3314(a),for failure to de-energize the slabber machine.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, CAUGHT BY, JAMMED, LOCKOUT, CONVEYOR, CONVEYOR BELT