Inspection Detail

Inspection: 307180521 - Us Hardwood Floors

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 4:40 p.m. on March 14, 2006, Employee #1 was working for US Hardwood Floors, a manufacturer of hardwood floors, in South El Monte, CA. He was a day laborer hired according to work load requirements. The injury occurred in an indoor warehouse utilized as a woodworking shop. The area is satisfactorily illuminated with overhead fluorescent lights and natural lighting from an opened roll-up door on the east end of the facility. The accident occurred at the northeast end of the facility. The machine involved in the accident was a Lobo-brand "Multiple Rip Saw" self-feed circular ripsaw, Model Number MJ143, with Serial Number 200406003. Employee #1 was feeding planks to the ripsaw, and his coworker was removing cut planks on the exit side of the ripsaw. Suddenly, Employee #1 was hit in his abdomen by wood fragments and was impaled. He was transported by his coworker to Greater El Monte Community Hospital, where he died on March 15, 2006, from his injuries. The path the wood fragments took from being cut from the stock lumber to hitting Employee #1 is undeterminable. It is likely, though, that Employee #1 was standing behind the end of the lumber infeed area, due to the likely trajectory of the wood fragments and the position of Employee #1 just after the accident.

Keywords: ABDOMEN, IMPALED, SAW, LUMBER