Inspection Detail

Inspection: 977463.015 - Codino'S Limited, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Cincinnati Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 1:20 p.m. on May 20, 2014, a 37-year old female employee lifted the mesh guard on a Lasagna Extruder to check the moisture content of the dough. The employee was trained about a year ago on the operation of the pasta extruder and had taken over as the full time operator of the extruder a week prior to the fatal accident. The pasta extruder mixes dough that was then used to make lasagna. The extruder has two rotating shafts at the bottom with metal mixing blades projecting out of each shaft. Its measures 67 inches long by 27 ? inches wide by 20 ? inches deep on the inside and 36 inches deep on the outside, and has three mesh guards on top that are interlocked with a magnetic switch which provides the operator the ability to lift the guards up to varying heights before the shut off switch of the extruder would be activated. The employee was responsible for adding water and flour to the dough while it was being mixed by the extruder. The employee was working alongside a co-worker on the same line; however, the co-worker did not witness the accident. This same co-worker found the employee upside down inside the extruder. The only guard that was open on the extruder was the one that her body was sticking out of and that guard was all the way up and resting in the up position. The coroner determined that the employee died as a result of shearing and crushing trauma to her torso, from contact with the augers.

Keywords: Amputation, Caught In, Machine Guarding, Torso