Inspection Detail

Inspection: 313512956 - Cliffstar California Llc Dba Cott Beverages

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on May 31, 2011, an employee was working as a machine operator in the bottling department at a juice manufacturing facility in Fontana, CA. She had worked for 15 years as a machine operator for the employer. The employer primarily manufactured and bottled juices. At the time of the accident, the employee was operating automatic packaging line #4, which was being used to pack cardboard boxes with six 96-ounce juice bottles. The boxes were being carried by two 15.5 inch-wide parallel adjacent powered roller conveyors. In an operation controlled by photo eye sensors, the boxes were pushed alternately from each conveyor onto a converging 45 inch-wide section, frictionally driven by rollers, onto a 9-inch-wide belt conveyor. This area was known as the combiner section. The nine-inch belt conveyor had an opening of 1.25 inches by 2 inches, with two nip points, located 34 inches above the floor level. During packaging, a few boxes got stuck at the combiner section. With her right hand, the employee tried to move them on the running rollers. At that time, her right hand was pinched between the moving 9-inch belt and the drive drum of the conveyor. Her right wrist sustained a degloving injury. The employee was taken to the Loma Linda University Medical Center, in Loma Linda, CA, for treatment. The employee underwent surgery, and she was hospitalized for more than 24 hours.

Keywords: DEGLOVED, EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, ROLLER CONVEYOR, JAMMED, ROLLER--MACH/PART, CAUGHT BETWEEN, MECH MAT HANDLING, NIP POINT, CONVEYOR BELT, WRIST