Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120261227 - James Jones Company

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At 4:55 p.m. on January 2, 2001, Employee #1 suffered an amputation of his right thumb while attempting to unstick a core from a Shalco Core Machine. James Jones Company is a foundry involved in the manufacture of fire hydrants and the different parts required for it. This involves the melting and pouring of molten metal into molds as well as baking inner core parts using sand. Shell core sand is automatically injected into the core box or oven and is then baked at about 450-500 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 to 45 seconds. The left side of the box then opens and ejector pins push the cores out of the box where they fall onto a conveyor. The worker then places them into a box. The core box point of operation is guarded by a surrounding gate and interlock. It was normal practice for approximately the past 7 years to work with the safety devices defeated. The safety was defeated using a magnet on the interlock, with a piece of tape over the magnet and interlock to hold the whole thing together. The interlock was defeated by Employee #1 or sometimes by someone who operated the machine during the prior shift. Employee #1 indicated that his direct supervisor knew he worked this way and told him to be careful to not get caught working this way. On the date of the accident the ejectors failed to push a core out of the box. Employee #1 then tried to pull the core piece out using his hands. The box closes at a very slow rate. Employee #1 did not anticipate the closing of the box and the box closed on his right thumb, which was badly crushed and burned. Employee #1 was hospitalized.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, CASTING, CAUGHT BY, INTERLOCK, THUMB, POINT OF OPERATION