Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300812799 - Okonite Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Labor Enforcement Task Force (Letf) Unit - South

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:15 p.m. on March 12, 2002, Employee #1, an employee of Okonite Inc. located at 2900 S. Skyway Drive in Santa Maria, California, was loading a reel of copper on a Payoff Loader (734). Employee #1 asked a coworker assist him. Employee #1 was attempting to align the dog pin assembly with the dog pin hole which was approximately in the 5 o'clock position. Employee #1 was trying to manipulate the dog pin assembly with his right hand while reaching back to the controls with his left hand. The dog pin assembly slipped and dropped catching Employee #1's right index finger between the dog pin assembly and the dog pin arm. The coworker was standing back from the payoff loader awaiting direction from Employee #1. Employee #1's right index finger was amputated above knuckle on the right index finger and was treated and released from Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, California. Okonite is a manufacturer of industrial electrical cable and Employee #1 had been employed with them for eighteen months. Employee #1 was usually assigned to work at Payoff 732 but on the night of the accident was asked to load a 108 in. reel of 1 million copper on Payoff 734. Employee #1 had not received training on the operation of Payoff 734. Payoff 734 differed from 732 in the placement of the controls and the braking mechanism. The procedure for loading a reel required the 'pintle' (center axis pin) to be inserted into the reel's center hole. The reel was then lifted on the center pintle and rotated by hand so that the dog pin holes were in the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. A dog pin was inserted into a dog pin which allowed the dog arm to rotate the reel.

Keywords: PINSETTER, AMPUTATED, PIN, FINGER