Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307163691 - Select Personnel

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on January 19, 2005, Employee #1, a machine operator at Rose & Shore meat products, was working in the pump room, operating a Sunrise roll stock machine that seals meat products in plastic packaging for shipping. Meat products are placed into plastic pockets and fed into the machine, where a layer of plastic is placed over the pockets and sealed. A blade then cuts the plastic to complete the process. After the machine had been running for approximately five minutes, the top plastic sheet began to bind up in the machine. To remove the plastic, Employee #1 reached into the delivery opening to pull it out while simultaneously pressing the start button. In this way, Employee #1 hoped to free the plastic from the machine. When Employee #1 pressed the start button, the cutting blade of the machine began to close on his left hand. Employee #1's left index finger was caught. Employee #2, who was the pump room supervisor and Employee #1's direct supervisor at the time, was approximately five feet away talking with another employee when the incident occurred. An inspection revealed that the accident was caused by Rose & Shore's failure to implement effective energy control procedures and to provide appropriate extension tools for the safe removal of the plastic from the roll stock machine.

Keywords: FINGER, GUARD, CAUGHT BY, POINT OF OPERATION, BLADE, HAND