Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316209261 - D & W Fine Pack, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At or about 9:20 a.m. on July 19, 2012, Employee #1 was working as a lead setup man and technician for a firm that manufactured plastic food containers. Employee #1 was working fulltime for his employer. There were problems with an Irwin thermoplastic-forming machine, which had Serial Number 12. Employee #1 was trying to determine why metal shavings had been found in the machine. Employee #1 turned the electric power off first and opened the door to the machine. At this time, the top mold was held and controlled pneumatically in the 'top' position. As he reached into the machine to look for the problem, the top mold, or plunger, unexpectedly came down. It pinned his right hand against a westerly rail in proximity to the bottom mold. He sustained crushing injuries of his right hand, which resulted in the amputation of the fingertips of the little and ring fingers on his right hand and broken bones at the top of his right hand. The employer reported the serious injury to the Division at 11:40 p.m. on July 19, 2012. On November 14, 2012, the Division determined that the pneumatically controlled top mold of the forming machine had been coming down by itself unexpectedly in the past, regardless of whether the machine door was in the 'closed' or 'open' position. This is what happened on July 19, 2012, too. The employer had not maintained the forming machine in service in a safe operating condition. Also, Employee #1 had not put the pneumatically controlled vertical safety bar in the proper position to prevent inadvertent movement of the top mold.

Keywords: FRACTURE, MAINTENANCE, AMPUTATED, INADEQUATE MAINT, MOLDING MACHINE, MACHINE OPERATOR, INTERLOCK, CAUGHT BETWEEN, PLASTIC MFG, HAND