Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126172766 - Glasswerks La Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on August 5, 2002, Employee #1 and a coworker were using a 6 in. wide by 6 ft long CRL wooden dolly to move a 0.25 in. thick by 96 in. wide by 130 in. long sheet of gray, Number 14 glass. The employee worked for Glassworks L.A., Inc, a glass fabrication business, whose main operations involved glass cutting, etching and polishing. The employee and coworker were lifting the glass sheet from the wooden dolly to the top of the cutting table when Employee #1 felt his glove slipping from his hand. He told the coworker to put the glass sheet back down on the dolly but they were unable to center the sheet on the dolly because the glass slipped from Employee #1's hand. As the glass dropped, it landed on the edge of the dolly, causing it to tip over. The glass sheet then fell onto the concrete floor and shattered into pieces. Employee #1 raised his arm to protect his face while the coworker moved away. A piece of the glass flew up and struck the back of Employee #1's neck on the right side, inflicting a 4 in. long laceration. Emergency medical personnel were summoned and transported him to the hospital, where he was treated for three days. Employee #1 and his coworker were wearing slip resistant rubber gloves, arm and shoulder shields, a hard hat, and eye protection. The accident occurred because Employee #1 was not provided with adequate job-specific training on handling large sheets of glass prior to this job assignment.

Keywords: BROKEN GLASS, WORK RULES, LACERATION, MANUAL MAT HANDLING, NECK, STRUCK BY, FLYING OBJECT, FALLING OBJECT, UNTRAINED