Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302549241 - Esquire Novelty

Inspection Information - Office: Albany Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was operating a Denison MultiPress hydraulic trim press, used to trim the excess off two sides of a toy gun cast made of zinc. Employee #1 was required to place the cast into the die of the press, use the two-hand controls to cycle the press, and then remove the trimmed gun parts and excess zinc. Because hand tools were not provided, Employee #1 had to place his hands in the die area to position and remove the material. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was reaching in to remove the trimmed parts when the press automatically cycled, amputating his hand. He said that he had not depressed either of the two-hand controls. Upon inspection after the accident, these controls would not cycle the press, indicating the possibility of an electrical failure in the two-hand control device. The accident might have been prevented had hand tools been provided to the press operators.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, WORK RULES, TWO-HAND CONTROL, CRUSHED, POINT OF OPERATION, HAND TOOL, HYDRAULIC PRESS, PRESS OPERATOR, HAND, MECH MALFUNCTION