Inspection Detail

Inspection: 309440519 - Whirlaway Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Toledo Area Office

Investigation Summary

On January 27, 2006, Employee #1 was operating a manual feed Prodigy SNK G-27 CNC lathe. The machine's point of operation was protected by a metal encasement with a Plexiglas plastic and metal horizontal door. The lathe was equipped with two proximity switches used as safety interlock devices. One switch detected if the hood was open and the second switch detected if the horizontal door was open. These switches were installed by SNK America Inc. At the time of the incident, Employee #1 reached into the machine's point of operation to retrieve a finished piece of work. Two of the fingers on his right hand were crushed and lacerated when the proximity switch for the horizontal door did not prevent the lathe's tooling movement under the hood. Employee #1 was taken to the hospital, where one of his fingers was amputated due to the severity of the injury. An inspection eventually determined that the proximity switch installed was not a safety interlock switch and did not meet ANSI and ISO specifications for such a device. AS a result the proximity switch allowed the employee to access the point of operation while the lathe was still in an operating cycle.

Keywords: LATHE, AMPUTATED, FINGER, GUARD, MACHINE OPERATOR, CAUGHT BY, INTERLOCK, CRUSHED, POINT OF OPERATION, DOOR