Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307395871 - German Motors Collision Center

Inspection Information - Office: San Francisco District Office

Investigation Summary

On June 15, 2006, Employee #1, a journey level auto body technician, was assisting a coworker, an apprentice auto body technician, to repair a car (BMW E46) bumper. The car had been raised on a two-post surface-mounted electro-hydraulic lift (Rotary Number SPOA10N500, Serial Number: BVP04G0760; 10,000 lbs capacity). The repair was completed and Employee #1 attempted to lower the lift, which had been raised fully to approximately 80 in. He noted that the lift was lowered only on the power unit column side (right post). The coworker, who apparently knew that the lift was defective and had removed the cover of the locking latch at the defective side, instructed Employee #1 to hold the "locking latch dog" down with his finger. When they tried to lower the lift all the way down, the latch dog snapped back and crushed the tip of the employee's right index finger. Employee #1 was bleeding profusely and was driven to the Emergency Room of a local hospital by two other coworkers, where it was diagnosed as an amputation. Employee's wound was dressed, the recovered tip of the finger was disposed of, and the employee was sent home. Four days later, Employee #1 went to another medical facility and underwent surgery to reconstruct the amputation. The investigation showed that the lift's lock release cable was broken, and the employee attempted to disengage the locking latch by removing the latch cover and holding the latch open, manually.

Keywords: HYDRAULIC LIFT, AMPUTATED, REPAIR, AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR, FINGER, WORK RULES, EQUIPMENT FAILURE