Inspection Detail

Inspection: 301284618 - Bright Wood Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Bend

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on July 15, 1997, Employee #1 was working on a molding machine at the Brightwood Corporation in Madras, OR. He was a molder set-up trainee and had been working with the molder set-up person/trainer for approximately three weeks. A break-up occurred inside the molder when an in-coming board doubled up with a board already in the machine. Employee #1 and the trainer removed the guards to observe the break up and then turned off the molder. The trainer allowed Employee #1 to clear the break-up and he went back to the rip saw station. Employee #1 jogged the motor to run the in-coming wood back out of the molder; he then raised the feed rolls so that pieces of the broken wood could be removed. During this last step, the little and ring fingers on his right hand struck the bottom molder head, which was still spinning with residual energy. After noticing the blood and the condition of his finger, he called to the trainer, who wrapped his hand in a T-shirt. Employee #1 was taken to the hospital by the foremen, and the two fingers were surgically amputated. In a separate accident at another plant, Employee #2 was injured on a molder. At approximately 8:00 a.m. on July 30, 1997, Employee #2, the molder set-up operator, was assisting a coworker in feeding boards under the in-feed rolls because they had been causing problems that morning. Employee #2 had to reach over a guard, and his arm became pulled under one of the rolls. First aid was administered, and Employee #2 was taken by the plant manager to the hospital, where he was kept overnight for observation. The two accidents were investigated together.

Keywords: FINGER, MOLDING MACHINE, WORK RULES, STRUCK AGAINST, CAUGHT BY, ROLLER--MACH/PART, INEXPERIENCE, ARM, NIP POINT, UNGUARDED