Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316521004 - Sierra Pacific Industries

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

On January 24, 2013, Employee #1, an operator, was assisting another operator with an industrial lumber gluing press. The operator of this machine would stack lumber on to the conveyor chains then send them to the opening of the gluing press. When the gluing press was ready to accept the next load, the chains dropped below the deck then a carriage pushed the lumber into the press. At the time of the accident, there was a crash. It was explained to the inspector a crash is when the strips of lumber to be glued come down the chain conveyor then either falls over or a miss feed happens because the width is too wide to enter the press. The assistant, Employee #1, was working on the opposite side of the machine and was removing boards and restacking the lumber so it will feed correctly into the glue press. Even though the operator hit the emergency stop on the machine, it does not stop the air system which would raises and lower the chain conveyor assemblies nor does it disable the photo eyes which control this system. As the employee reached in to remove a piece of lumber, the lumber tripped a photo eye which commanded the chain assembly to rise above the deck to feed more lumber, amputating Employee #1's right pinky finger as it was pinched between the chain assembly and the machines deck. Employee #1 was taken to Saint Elizabeth's Hospital, where he was treated for an amputation of the pinky finger and released.

Keywords: CHAIN, AMPUTATED, GLUE, FINGER, CAUGHT BETWEEN, LUMBER, CONVEYOR, NIP POINT, PRESS