Accident: 904995 - Fingers Fractured In Mechanical Power Press

At approximately 12 noon on December 10, 1998, Employee #1 was operating a full-revolution mechanical power press with automatic feed and continuous operation. The machine jammed and, after clearing the jam, Employee #1 attempted to feed in new material. His left hand became caught between the die plates as the machine cycled, fracturing three of his fingers. The guard at the feed end had been removed.

press, press operator, power press, jammed, automatic machine, caught between, guard, finger, fracture, work rules

Accident: 170019574 - Drowns When Pickup Is Pulled Into Harbor

Employee #1 was in a pickup truck on a dock, facing the water. A ship's mooring line that tethered the boat had attached to it a tag line that was tied to the front of the small pickup. This was used by dock workers to help them pull lines from the water to tie them to the dock. Apparently, the ship's winch was set on automatic, causing the lines to reverse. The pickup was pulled into the water and Employee #1 drowned.

longshoring, pickup truck, drown, tag line, winch, automatic machine, water, dock, dock worker

Accident: 170572416 - Hand Injured In Power Press

Employee #1 was operating an automatic power press to grind burrs off of shaped parts that were dropped onto the conveyor by a robotics extractor. The bottom of the die had a sensor to activate the press when it detected that a part had made contact. Apparently a panel become stuck and did not land properly to make contact. Employee #1 had seen a senior operator go into the die and remove stuck parts, so he attempted to do the same. As Employee #1 tried to get out of the die, he was using his left hand to hold onto the guard part pin for balance. The press cycled, amputating three fingers and part of his hand.

grinder, power press, press operator, stuck, hand, amputated, finger, automatic machine, work rules, jammed

Accident: 170616049 - Hand Injured In Automatic Cutter

At approximately 1:10 a.m. on January 8, 1998, Employee #1, of Reeves Extruded Products, was adjusting a piece of plastic tubing that was located in a moving automatic cutter when his left hand struck the saw blade. He sustained a serious injury and was transported to San Joaquin Hospital in Bakersfield, CA, where he was admitted for treatment.

maintenance, automatic machine, struck against, laceration, hand, lockout, rotating knife, work rules

Accident: 201630043 - Injured When Caught In Turret Press

At approximately 8:15 p.m. on August 12, 1997, Employee #1, the operator of an automatic turret press that was used to stamp sheet metal, placed the press in idle mode to clear scrap from the point of operation. He placed himself between the point of operation table and the carriage used to auto-load the sheet steel. While his back was to the carriage, it began to move because it had been placed in delayed mode. The carriage struck Employee #1 from behind and pushed him forward onto the table. He became pinned between the table and the carriage in a forward facing, bent over position. Employee #1 remained in that position for approximately four minutes, when he was discovered by a coworker. Employee #1 directed the coworker on how to shut off the machine and was immediately rescued from it. Emergency medical technicians responded, and he was transported to a nearby hospital. Employee #1 was kept overnight for observation and was released the next day with superficial cuts and heavy bruising around the buttocks, back, abdomen, chest, and arms. He was scheduled to return to work in two weeks.

power press, press operator, caught between, point of operation, struck by, pinned, contusion, automatic machine, lockout, work rules

Accident: 200810315 - Killed When Struck By Counterweight Of Pumping Unit

At approximately 11:45 a.m., Employee #1, who had been working in a cotton field with a crew of farm hands, had to relieve himself. He wanted some privacy and went around to the south side of the pumping jack and climbed into the fenced-in area. While Employee #1 was relieving himself, the pumping jack activated and caught him between the counterweight and the motor housing. He was crushed and killed. The pumping jack was programmed to start automatically but it is uncertain if hydrogen sulfide fumes had a contributing role in this accident. The farmer was not required to provide any portable toilets for this field because he had less than 11 employees and the pump jack was an unmanned location.

oil well servicing, cotton picker, pump, hydrogen sulfide, automatic machine, caught between, crushed

Accident: 170391403 - Two Killed, One Injured In Molten Steel Spill

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on July 18, 1997, Employees #1 and #2 were attaching an automatic poring device to ladle #21 when molten steel spilled, engulfing them and creating a fireball in which they died. Employee #3 was injured while trying to extinguish the flames on one of his coworkers. A subsequent investigation was unable to determine the root cause of the ladle excursion. The amount of free board--the distance between the molten steel and the top of the ladle--was examined, as was the appropriateness of the protective clothing being worn by Employees #1 and #2.

fire, burn, pouring, ladle, automatic machine, molten metal, protective clothing, spill