Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310098991 - Jerry'S Foam Company, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

"On February 27, 2009, Employee #1 using a compactor to crush scrap cardboard materials. At the time of the incident Employee #1 was pushing in on the cardboard with his left and right hands extending through the open upper cover in order to keep the materials in place during the ram cycle. At some point, Employee #1 right hand/wrist/arm became trapped and his wrist/hand was severely crushed as the ram pushed them onto the top edge of the lower cover which was closed. The supervisor responded to turn off the machine and get Employee #1 extracted and took him to the nearby Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City. Employee #1 was later sent to Kaiser in Santa Clara where he underwent multiple surgeries for serious damages to his right wrist and hand. Employee #1 said the unit had always been operable with the door in the open position during his employment and that other employees also used it that way. Employee #1 was employed by Jerry Foam Company, Incorporated. which manufactures foam products and corrugated carton products. The employer failed to report the event to a Cal/OSHA office. On December 21, 2010, while conducting a complaint inspection at the employer; the DOSH compliance officer learned about an accident involving serious injuries which had occurred to an employee at the location in 2009. During the course of the inspection in the carton area, several machines were noticed with guarding problems including a compactor machine. The machine was in daily use and was missing an interlock for the front cover/guard. A supervisor told the inspector that an accident had occurred on that machine before, with a person being caught by the ram. The supervisor demonstrated that the compactor was able to run without the upper guard being closed. The machine was taken out of service and affixed with an Order Prohibiting Use tag."

Keywords: CRUSHED, ARM, HAND, WRIST