Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126178789 - Rehrig Pacific Company

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, an employee of Rehrig Pacific Company in Los Angeles, California, was a Level-3 machine operator with 19 years of experience in the trade. On the day of the accident Employee #1 was assigned to work on the Number 8 injection molding machine, a KM 1000/14700 MC, Machine Number 10O914J2, manufactured by Krauss-Maffei Company. Employee #1 was having trouble with the conveyer system underneath the Number 8 injection molding machine. Employee #1 asked a coworker who was sweeping nearby to help him run the machine while he repaired the conveyer system. Employee #1 fixed the conveyer system once but it failed shortly thereafter. Employee #1 got under the conveyer system and fixed it. During all this time the Number 8 injection molding machine was running in automatic mode. The conveyer system was up and running, but for an unknown reason Employee #1 got inside the machine again. Employee #1 did not deenergize or disengage the injection molding machine prior to entering into it, nor were suitable extension tools or other methods or means utilized to protect Employee #1 from any hazardous movement of the mold. Employee #1 may have been installing a piece of plastic that runs along the edge of the conveyer belt that is design to prevent the finished product from falling out of the conveyer belt. While Employee #1 was inside the machine the second time, the coworker noticed that the Number 8 injection molding machine stopped. The coworker set the buzzer alarm on and then went to look for the supervisor. The coworker informed the supervisor what was going on. The supervisor attempted to close the dies but he was not able to. The supervisor then opened the safety gate and stepped inside the die and realized that Employee #1's head was pinned between the back of the die and the frame of the step-on safety device. The safety device was equipped with eight limit switches that protect the mold installation space and is activated upon sensing a weight of 50 kilograms or more. Emergency medical services were called and the paramedics arrived shortly after receiving the emergency phone call. Upon arrival the paramedics assessed the situation and at about 1:51 p.m. it was determined that Employee #1 was dead and no further rescue was pursued.

Keywords: DIE, HEAD, MOLDING MACHINE, LOCKOUT, CAUGHT BETWEEN, CRUSHED, CONVEYOR