Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305477531 - Commonwealth Aluminum Corp

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on October 15, 2004, Employee #1 was working for a company that manufactures aluminum coil which vary in sizes and weights. These coils are tied to and are transported on pallets appropriately sized to the diameter of the coil. There were three coils which had to be wrapped which did not have the right size pallets. After receiving instructions from his lead person, Employee #1 inquired what would need to be done since there were no appropriately sized pallets available for the three coils. The lead person indicated that there was no other way but to cut the pallets to the appropriate size. Employee #1 was instructed to cut the pallets down to size. Having had no previous training on any powered hand tool and having only used this tool once, Employee #1 used a Skilsaw, Model HD77, which was lying on a table in the production area. He proceeded to cut the perimeters of the pallet. He was having difficulty because the saw would not run smoothly. Employee #1 realized that the saw would not go through since a piece of metal guard was in the way. He moved the metal out of the way by adjusting it up. After he finished the first coil, he proceeded to cut the second one. Again, he was having difficulty in spite of the fact that he had already moved the guard out of the way. He was cutting the pallet while bending over it and was soon exhausted. He started to straighten up and due to the weight of the Skilsaw, which he was holding with his right hand, he lowered the Skilsaw. The blade of the Skilsaw struck his right leg and he was hospitalized with lacerations to his inner leg, approximately 8-in.

Keywords: THIGH, LACERATION, STRUCK BY, HAND TOOL, UNTRAINED, UNGUARDED, LEG