Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312664964 - Wholesale Pallets

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At about 1:10 p.m. on September 16, 2010, an employee was working at Wholesale Pallets in Pomona, California. He was operating a notcher machine, which is used to shape wooden pallet pieces. The machine was also called a shaper. The notcher or shaper was a Marathon Electric Model Number JVE 215TTFC4026BD Series E machine made in mainland China. A metal guard was present on the machine, but it was not designed to keep the operator's hand away from the point of operation. Rather, it was directly over the outer edge of the cutting head. The opening at the bottom of the guard was less than 0.25 inch, but a minimum of at least an 0.5-inch guard line dimension was not provided. The flat metal guard travel limit to the outer edge of the cutting head was governed by a stop pin fastened into the notcher's table. Before the accident, the employer maintained the guard limit stop pin at its original location on the shaper table, as designed by the manufacturer. Located in accordance with the original manufacturer's design, the guard did not keep the operator's hand away from the cutting edge. The employee was wiping wood chips from the point of operation on the machine. Because there was no minimum guard line dimension, the employee's fingers came into contact with the cutting head. He sustained a partial amputation to the ring, middle, and index fingers on his right hand. He was not hospitalized.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, GUARD, MACHINE OPERATOR, STRUCK AGAINST, POINT OF OPERATION, PALLET, BLADE, UNGUARDED