Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312690506 - City College Of San Francisco

Inspection Information - Office: San Francisco District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:15 a.m. on January 31, 2011, Employee #1, a technician in the Theater Arts Department at City College of San Francisco, was working alone in the Diego Rivera Theater Woodshop ripping lumber on an unguarded Rockwell Model number 54-540 hand-fed table saw making props for a play. Employee #1 first ripped a four by four piece of lumber adjusting the blade to compensate for the height of the lumber. After completing this task, Employee #1 ripped a piece of 0.75-inch lumber but failed to lower the blade for the smaller size of lumber. Employee #1's left thumb and forefinger came in contact with the elevated blade resulting in the amputation of the two digits. Employee #1 wrapped the hand in a cloth and walked across the street to the Student Health Center, where initial first aid was rendered by a coworker. This coworker called the Campus Police and Emergency medical services. The San Francisco Fire Department responded and transported Employee #1 to Ralph K. Davies Hospital via ambulance. Employee #1 was hospitalized until February 2, 2011. During the investigation, the Division Engineer interviewed the available witnesses that included; Employee #2, the corker who assisted and summed emergency Medical services, the Campus Police as well as Employee #1's supervisor. The supervisor was not present at the time of the incident. It was determined that the hand-fed Rockwell Model number 54-540 table saw had been unguarded prior to and up to the time of the injury in violation of Title 8 CCR Section 4300.1 and a Serious, incident related citation alleging a violation of that section was issued. In addition, other violations were observed at the site and the employer was cited accordingly.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, LACERATION, UNGUARDED, TABLE SAW