Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310490941 - General Mills Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:45 p.m. on March 5, 2008, Employee #1, a 30-year employee for General Mills, was working on the first floor of the milling department of the facility. Located on this floor were over 20 milling machines known as roll stands, as well as a computer control station for the operation. A roll stand is a piece of equipment that is used in the grain milling process and is comprised of four steel rolls that grind course wheat flour into a fine powder. The steel rolls are mounted in two horizontal pairs known as "breaks" one above the other and are powered by two 230/460 volt, 1,180 rpm and 1,800 rpm motors. Above the rolls is a product hopper where the product is fed into the machine from the second floor. At the bottom of each pair of rolls are brushes that prevent accumulation of the product on the rolls. Employee #1 noticed that the product was flowing through only one of the Buhler roll stands, Serial Number 10307027, known as "C-mill". After going to the computer station to identify the problem, he found that C-mill was in a suspended state meaning that the rolls were running but no product was flowing through the mill. He went to the roll stand and opened the access hatch to the upper set of rolls, where he found that the product had accumulated on top of the lower rolls. The access hatch of the machine was not interlocked and the rolls continued to run after the hatch was opened. Using an air hose with a 25.5-inch wand and wearing a pair of cotton work gloves with rubberized traction dots on them, Employee #1 began to blow the product out of the machine but he could not get all of it out of the corners of the rolls and off of the brushes. While the machine was still energized and the rolls running, he began cleaning the product off of the rolls with his left hand while using the air hose with his right. In order to clean the product out of the brushes, he held the outside brush from underneath and began to shake it out. His hand became caught in the machine at the right corner where the brushes meet the roll, crushing his fingers. He was admitted to the hospital and his finger was amputated.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, GRAIN, CLEANING, MILLING MACHINE, ROLLER--MACH/PART, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, HOPPER