Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120297346 - American Building Supply Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento District Office

Investigation Summary

On July 25, 2007, Employee #1 was setting up the shaper to hog out the core of doors the company was manufacturing. The shaper had a rotating cutter blade with speed settings between 2,900 and 10,000 rpm. Employee #1 was using a 30 in. long by 3 in. wide by 1.75 in. thick test board to determine the correct placement of the cutter blade for the hog out operation. He was holding the test board in his left hand as he pushed it into the shaper cutter. Almost immediately upon touching the cutter blade, the test board pulled violently to the right, in the same direction as the blade was rotating. Before Employee #1 could react, his left index finger struck against the cutter blade. he was transported to the hospital, where his finger was surgically amputated below the first joint. The shaper was equipped with a large auto-feed attachment that could be swung into place in front of the cutter to guard the blades from accidental contact. This attachment was useful when the material needed to be exposed to the shaper cutter from the leading edge all the way to the trailing edge. However, the auto-feed attachment could not be used on this job so it had been swung out of the way. There was no guard covering the rotating cutter blade during this set-up procedure. To "hog out" the cores at the bottom of the doors, the middle section of the core needed to be exposed to the cutters but not the two ends. Therefore, the doors could not be fed through the shaper automatically.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, ROTATING KNIFE, WORK RULES, STRUCK AGAINST, CAUGHT BY, CONSTRUCTION, WOOD SHAPER, UNGUARDED