Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310096698 - Four Star Automotive Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

On August 25, 2009, Employee #1 was using an air gun hammer to remove the pins holding the plate covering the shredder blades of the shredding machines inside the Shred-it Truck. The air gun hammer chisel bit hit a piece of metal approximately 0.5-cm by 0.5-cm. Employee stated that he did not know if the small piece of metal was part of the chisel bit, part of the pin or a completely separate entity. This piece of metal was propelled by the air gun hammer chisel bit, flew up, hit the metal ceiling of this truck compartment, and bounced down unto the employee's left upper eyelid eye. The piece of metal pierced the eyelid and struck his eye. The employee suffered a penetrating globe metallic intraocular foreign body injury to the left eye. Employee #1 was hospitalized, and the metal imbedded into his eye was removed by a physician in surgery. The investigation revealed that the employee was wearing am ANSI approved Z87 eye protection with side shields provided by the employer. The piece of flying metal flew above and behind the eye protection glasses and into his left eye.

Keywords: EJECTED, EYE, PPE, SCRAP METAL, STRUCK BY, FLYING OBJECT