Inspection Detail

Inspection: 101278414 - Columbus Mills, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Atlanta East Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a janitor in the service center where the carpet cut order machine is located, cleaned carpet debris from under and around the machine. He would turn the machine on, move the roller bed, which weighed several thousand pounds, to a safe position, then turn the machine off. He would then clean the carpet thread and string from under the machine with a hook and blower. Around 12:15 a.m. on April 15, when Employee #1 arrived at the cut order machine, an electrician had the cabinet door open and was down on his knees making repairs. Employee #1 asked, "How long before you finished?" The electrician said fifteen to twenty minutes. They never spoke again. During the repair, the electrician was turning the machine off and on. The electrician finished, walked 20 ft to the wrapper control, started back to the cabinet, and saw Employee #1 slump over on his knees. The electrician walked over to him and saw that his head and shoulder were caught between the roller bed and conveyor table. He was killed. If the roller bed is in an up position and the power is turned off, the bed will automatically drop down to the conveyor table.

Keywords: JANITOR, HEAD, WORK RULES, CLEANING, LOCKOUT, ROLLER--MACH/PART, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CONVEYOR, STRUCK BY, COMMUNICATION