Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312664824 - Consolidated Precision Products

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:30 a.m. on July 27, 2010, Employee #1 was working at Consolidated Precision Products, a company located in Pomona, CA, that manufactured medium to large dry sand aluminum and magnesium castings for the aerospace, military, and medical industries. Employee #1 had been hired on February 23, 2010, as a core maker. His responsibilities were to make sand molds while operating the core blower presses. He had no prior experience as a core maker before working for his current employer. His employer was able to provide documentation of safety training records for Employee #1, including machine guarding. On the day of the accident, Employee #1 started work at 3:00 a.m. Employee #1 was operating a Redford-Carver Foundry Products pneumatic core blower press. He had been given the job assignment from his supervisor the day before to make sand molds using this press. While operating this particular core blower press, Employee #1 would take his left hand and place a 2-inch by 8-inch piece of wood in front of the press to prevent sand from shooting out and cutting him. His right hand would move a lever to start the press, which shot sand into the molds. At approximately 10:30 am, while operating the press to make sand molds, Employee #1 felt his left hand being crushed between the core box and the machine plate. It had become caught, and he sustained multiple fractures to the third, fourth, and fifth fingers on his left hand. Employee #1's supervisor was approximately twenty feet away. Employee #1 was taken by his supervisor to US Healthworks in Pomona, California. Later that day, he was taken to Western Hand Specialist in Downey, CA, where surgery was performed. The machine was not properly guarded to prevent employees from reaching into the point of operation.

Keywords: FRACTURE, FINGER, MACHINE OPERATOR, CAUGHT BY, CRUSHED, POINT OF OPERATION, DIE CASTING MACHINE, HAND, MOLD PLATES, UNGUARDED