Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310604954 - Preferred Personnel

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on October 1, 2008, Employee #1, a temporary worker, was operating a trim press machine in a manufacturer facility for the production of plastic containers for plants. During the production of the plastic bins, a large plastic bin is manually placed in the area beneath the trim press machine to catch the waste that is discharged from the machine. When the bin is full the helper manually removes the full plastic bin and replaces it with an empty bin in this area. Employee #1 was fulfilling this duty of replacing the full waste bin, when her left hand came into contact with the moving knives on the machine. This resulted in the amputation of her pinky finger on her left hand. The accident investigation noted that there were warning signs on the frame of the trim press, in close proximity of the waste bin that depicted the presence of "moving knives." However, the accident occurred as a result of Employee #1 removing additional waste trimmings from the machine that had become stuck.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, GUARD, CAUGHT BETWEEN, INEXPERIENCE, HAND, INATTENTION