Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309148427 - Weldmac Manufacturer Co Inc

Inspection Information - Office: High Hazard Unit - South

Investigation Summary

On February 15, 2007, an employee, a machinist, worked in the machine shop. The employee was to remove metal material from parts in accordance to the specifications required by the blueprints. The employee used equipment such as but not limited to mills, lathes, hand tools, saws, including a horizontal band saw, and measuring equipment. A Hyd-Mech horizontal band saw was located in the outdoor area of the machine shop which was used by all the machinists in the shop daily to cut metal parts. This band saw was at least 5 years old. The Hyd-Mech horizontal band saw had a hydraulic clamp located in back of the saw blade. This clamp had two separate units: "front" and "back". Each unit had two metal plates that pressed/squeezed against the metal part. The "front" unit was closest to the blade, and it was stationary. The "back" unit hydraulically moved the part to be cut to a micrometer stop, before the cutting started. There was an approximate 2 inch gap between the "front" and "back" units. The control panel, used to close the clamp, was located at the top of the front of the band saw. For automatically making multiple cuts to a single piece of bar stock, both "front and "back" units would be used. On the morning of the accident the employee had been using the Hyd-Mech horizontal band saw for about an hour making single cuts on metal parts. At approximately 7:00 a.m., the employee was setting up this band saw to make multiple cuts of an approximate 10 ft length of flat bar stock, 0.5-in. by 1.5-in. of mild steel. The employee placed the bar stock on its side in the clamp. He then noticed that the bar stock had fallen over. The employee reached through the front opening of this band saw with his left hand to the gap between the clamp's front and back units and repositioned the bar stock. The saw blade was not in operation. With his left hand still in this area, employee reached up with his right hand to the control panel and "pressed" the button to close the clamp against the part. The clamp closed with the tip of the employee's left index finger being pinched between the metal plate of the clamp's "front" unit and the bar stock. The hydraulic clamp did not have its pinch points guarded. The employee's left index finger was amputated, but he was not hospitalized.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, BANDSAW, FINGER, CAUGHT BETWEEN, HYDRAULIC TOOL