Inspection Detail

Inspection: 313641169 - Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

The accident happened on May 19, 2010 at about 05:30 pm. The accident was never reported to the Division by the employer. Employer is a grain exporter. Car loads of grain would come in from the country by rail and trucks and it would be reloaded into trucks which would take them to the port so it could be loaded into international l ocean vessels. The facility, at the time of the accident, had one rail car unloading section located on the west side of its yard. Specially designed hopper rail cars would be brought in and as each car is unloaded, it would be positioned above a below ground screw conveyor,located underneath the rail ties. These screw conveyor would then convey the material up into an elevator conveyor from where it will be conveyed downward again as it is loaded into trucks which will take the material to port. There are three of such crew conveyors spaced 11 inches apart, housed in a metal box with a steel grating above it. The metal grating is in the form of little squares with openings 4 x 4 inches each. The grating cover or guard allows the product to through while protecting the employees from falling into the conveyor. The accident happened at the end of the first workshift, around 5:30 pm and the employees were cleaning the rail car drop off area to prepare for the next material. Prior to the accident, the employer was off loading sugar beet pellets. It was almost the end of the shift and the employees assigned to work in that area were preparing the conveyor for another material but the area had to be cleaned first to avoid contamination. Employee no. 1 was standing in the 11 inch ground space between the northernmost conveyor and the one south of it. He scooped up a heap of sugar beet pellets and as he turned around to dump it into the auger, his left foot stepped on the cardboard that covered part of the grating. Unbeknownst to employee no. 1, the metal grating had been partly pulled out of its housing, creating an "unguarded" opening above the auger and the cardboard covering as not supported underneath. This caused his left foot and leg to fall through, into the running screw conveyor. The conveyor pulled his foot and leg in and caused it to be amputated. Employee no. 1 was a regular employee of the employer.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, SCREW CONVEYOR, UNGUARDED LIVE PARTS, CONVEYOR, AUGER, LEG