Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119809416 - Formica Corp

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

At about midnight on Thursday, April 29, 1993, Employee #1, an employee at the Formica plant in Sunset Whitney Ranch, CA, started up the melamine paper treater at the beginning of her shift. Earlier in the day, a paper jam had occurred that required replacing one of the large treater roll shafts. The repairs took the maintenance crew most of the day. When the graveyard shift arrived, the machine was sitting idle with no noted warning of earlier problems with it. Shortly after setting up and starting the machine, Employee #1 went to the area of the repaired rolls and started to wipe them down with a towel. The towel became caught in the rolls, which drew in her fingers and crushed them. The guard for the rolls had been left off and was sitting on the floor, where Employee #1 nearly stepped on it. First aid was administered and Employee #1 was transported to Roseville General Hospital for treatment of two righthand fingers, which were amputated below the second knuckles. Johnny mops, extension-handled swabs, were available to Employee #1 for use in wiping down the treatment rolls; using towels, however, has been considered acceptable practice.

Keywords: FINGER, WORK RULES, CLEANING, EQUIPMENT OPERATOR, ROLLER--MACH/PART, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, UNGUARDED, WARNING SIGN