Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310494737 - Employment Service Solution Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:00 p.m. on March 20, 2009, Employee #1 worked as a machine operator for a used clothing recycling business with six full time employees and over 300 temporary employees. Employee #1 had been working there for one year, performing the duties of a machine operator, including packaging used clothing. At the time of the accident, he was performing a regularly assigned task of placing banding straps on a compressed bale of used clothing to package the bale for shipment. Employee #1 was working with another machine operator on a bale press compactor. Employee #1 was assisting the other operator by pushing plastic banding straps around a compressed bale of clothing at the back of the bale press compactor. Employee #1 placed his left hand on the top of the press ram while he pushed the banding straps around the bale of clothing that was held compressed by the press ram. The other operator secured the banding straps and activated the press ram to release the compression on the bale of clothing, not knowing that Employee #1 still had his hand on the top of the ram. As the ram retracted into the ram tunnel, Employee #1's left hand was caught in the unguarded shear point created between the ram and ram tunnel on the bale press compactor, crushing his left hand and partially amputating his fingers. The investigation concluded that Employee #1 was exposed to an unguarded shear point on a bale press compactor that was readily visible to supervision. Employee #1 was transported and admitted to, and had surgery at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, MACHINE OPERATOR, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, BALER, HAND, RAM