Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309365336 - Rupp Research, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

On January 9, 2006, Employee #1 was working as a foreman with Rupp Research, LLC, an agricultural company located in Chico, CA. He took a small crew to a field to wash and clean a vine seed harvester. After completing the cleaning, he and a coworker were preparing to secure a discharge auger to the side of the harvester frame, so that the unit could be transported. Eight nuts and bolts secure the auger to the harvester frame. After the unit was cleaned, a single bolt located between the auger frame and the discharge bin was removed to allow an employee to close a small side door on the auger frame. Employee #1 was standing on the ground holding the auger at enough of an angle to allow the door to be closed. Before a temporary bolt could be inserted to hold the auger in place, the top-heavy auger started moving. Neither Employee #1 nor his coworker could hold it. As the top of the auger swung outward and the bottom of the auger swung inward, the index finger on Employee #1's right hand was pinched between the auger and the harvester frame. It was impaled by a bolt. After coworkers helped him free his finger, he drove himself to Colusa Regional Medical Center. He was later transferred to Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he was hospitalized. He sustained permanent damage to the finger. He was released from the hospital after two days.

Keywords: IMPALED, AGRICULTURE, FINGER, AUGER MECHANISM, FARM MACHINERY, HARVESTER, CAUGHT BETWEEN, FALLING OBJECT, LOST CONTROL, HAND