105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14391098

CHEST,LATHE,SHEAR,WORK RULES,BOLT,STRUCK BY,FLYING OBJECT

Event
CHEST,LATHE,SHEAR,WORK RULES,BOLT,STRUCK BY,FLYING OBJECT
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14391098
Report ID
625700

Event description

Employee killed when struck by flying lathe chuck jaw

Investigation abstract

At 6:00 a.m. on March 16, 1987, Employee #1 and a setup machinist were setting u fting caused the chuck jaw bolts to shear off. The chuck jaw flew out and struck Employee #1 in the chest, killing him. p the Okuma lathe to cut a 4 in. by 12 in. pipe reducer to proper length and to make a weld level at each end. After the setup man had adjusted the lathe to the proper speed for this work (290 rpm), he put the speed lever in neutral and tol d Employee #1 to make the cuts. Instead of shifting the lever to low speed (290 rpm), Employee #1 shifted it to high speed (1,800 rpm). The setup machinist had turned and walked approximately 5 to 6 ft away when he heard the sound of the la the operating at high speed and told Employee #1 to stop the lathe. Employee #1 immediately shifted the lever from 1,800 rpm down to 290 rpm. This rapid downshi

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 38 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    5
    Event type
    1
    Source
    26
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    14
    Environmental factor
    5
    Task assigned
    2

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