Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126065838 - Clougherty Packing Dba Farmer John

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:00 a.m. on March 6, 2007, Employee #1 and a coworker were working at Clougherty Packing, LLC, dba Farmer John. This meatpacking firm processes and packages pork products. Employee #1 was a maintenance supervisor who had worked for the company since October 2002. His coworker had fixed an electrical problem on the Tiromat-brand packaging machine Number 1 during the lunch break and then turned on the machine for full operation. He noticed that there was an air leak problem on the forming section of the Tiromat, which caused the film to inflate upward. Employee #1 came over to the forming section of the machine, where the coworker was trying to identify the source of the air leak. With the machine still running, Employee #1 noticed that one of guards was out of place. Employee #1 asked his coworker if the guard were bypassed, and the coworker told him that he did not know. Because the inflated film was blocking the view of the forming chamber, Employee #1 pushed the inverted film down with his right hand to get a better view and to feel the source of air leak. When he pushed down the film, the forming chamber closed, and the fourth and fifth fingers on Employee #1's gloved right hand were caught between the forming dies. Employee #1 pulled out his hand when the forming chamber opened up, only to see that the tips of those two fingers had been amputated. He walked to the U.S. Health Works medical center, and he was referred to a hand specialist in Encino, CA. He was not hospitalized. It was determined that the accident occurred because Employee #1 had placed his hand too close to the point of operation of the forming section while troubleshooting the machine.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, PACKING HOUSE, FOOD PACKAGING MACH, LOCKOUT, POINT OF OPERATION, FORMING MACHINE, HAND, MECH MALFUNCTION, UNGUARDED