Inspection Detail

Inspection: 308298132 - Tamko Roofing Products, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was the acting lead man for felt line Number 3 from the winding machine to the palletizer machine. This section of the line delivers finished roofing paper and winds it into rolls. The rolls then travel onto a conveyor system and are carried to the accumulator table. The rolls accumulate on the table, six at a time. The accumulator table cycles by means of electronic eyes and operates under hydraulics. Once the sixth roll hits the table, it triggers the conveyor to stop and the table to upend and dump the finished rolls onto a pallet which is in the palletizer machine. This machine wraps the finished product and the pallets are moved to storage areas by way of forklift. Employee #1 had relieved a coworker for break and was performing his duties at the accumulator table and roll pallatizer. Employee #1 noticed that the conveyor had not stopped until it had sent seven rolls onto the accumulator table. Evidently, this malfunction occurs about every 10 minutes when smaller 200 square-ft rolls of roofing paper are being run on the line. Common practice was for the operator in this area to shove the extra roll onto the floor at the opposite side of the accumulator table. Employee #1 pushed the seventh roll, but it did not go onto the floor. It did, however, clear the electronic beam and cause the table to upend. When the table upended, the roll still remained on the table. Employee #1 then climbed up between the conveyor and accumulator table and pushed the roll onto the floor. The roll cleared another electronic beam and prompted the table to cycle back to its home position, which was down. Employee #1 became pinned between the table and the conveyor at chest level. Since the accumulator table had not returned to its home position, it kept constant pressure on Employee #1's chest and he could not breathe. A coworker witnessed the event and pulled the emergency stop on the line. Maintenance personnel had to be called to bleed the hydraulic pressure off the accumulator table so Employee #1 could be freed. Employee #1 remained pinned for a period of approximately 5 minutes. Employee #1 received serious chest injuries and asphyxiation for approximately 3minutes to 4 minutes. Employee #1 was hospitalized.

Keywords: CHEST, ASPHYXIATED, PINNED, CONVEYOR