Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316693274 - Yumoto Company Ltd

Inspection Information - Office: Tennessee Osha Chattanooga Office - Safety

Investigation Summary

On August 21, 2012, an employee was working for a computer programming service at an automotive manufacturer's facility. He was working on a rotor balance machine, by making adjustments to a pallet stopper. At the time, the machine was in 'automatic dry run' mode. The 'dry run' mode allows the machine to run in full cycle and at full speed without a pallet in place, so that the operator can make adjustments to the gantry gripper if needed. In this mode, all sensors except the pallet stopper are set in a position that indicates that a pallet of material is in position for the gantry gripper to activate and come down to pick up the material. The only thing that needs to occur for the gantry to be activated is for the pallet stopper to sense the pallet. At the time of the incident, the employee was making adjustments to the air line for the pallet stopper, when he inadvertently activated the pallet stopper. This in turn indicated to the machine that all sensors were activated and that the gantry should go through a cycle. When the gantry gripper came down, the employee was leaning over the conveyor. The gantry gripper came into contact with his neck. He was crushed between the conveyor and the gantry gripper. The employee's hand went through a light curtain, stopping the machine while it was crushing him. The gantry stopped, pinning the employee to the conveyor. He was killed.

Keywords: MAINTENANCE, LOCKOUT, CRUSHED, CONVEYOR, MECH MAT HANDLING, NECK, PALLET, LIGHT CURTAIN, UNGUARDED