Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310093539 - La Tempesta Bakery Confections Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

A bakery employee was working on a metal-detector, lock-inspection conveyor (System 3000), which was a small countertop-like unit approximately 1.2 meters long and 200 millimeters wide. The conveyor had a plastic belt running in the middle of the station, approximately 1 meter above the floor. The employee noticed a cookie wrapper stuck between the conveyor belt and a sprocket. She tried to pull out the wrapper with her right hand; and, as she put her hand under the conveyor to grab the wrapper, her glove was caught between the sprocket and the conveyor belt. The glove pulled her hand into the machine up to her wrist. She was unable to reach the disconnect switch while her hand was stuck inside the machine. Other employees responded and turned off the machine. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured right wrist, along with cuts and bruises. The employer had not trained the employee, who had been working with the company for a little more than a year, in working safely on the machine. Instead, she learned by observing other workers. It was a common practice for employees to pull wrappers from the sprocket and belt areas of the machine. The machines had no guards at the time of the accident; however, the employer installed guards afterwards.

Keywords: FRACTURE, ROTATING PARTS, GLOVE, LOCKOUT, CONVEYOR, SPROCKET, UNTRAINED, UNGUARDED, WRIST