OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14475933
HEAD,STEEL BLOCK,BARRIER GUARD,GUARD,STRUCK BY,FLYING OBJECT,HYDRAULIC PRESS,UNTRAINED,PRESS
Event description
STRUCK BY STEEL BLOCK EJECTED FROM HYDRAULIC PRESS
Investigation abstract
ON MARCH 3, 1984, AT APPROXIMATELY 9:30 AM, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS ATTEMPTING TO PRESS A SHORT SPINDLE INTO A ROLLER, USING A HYDRAULIC PRESS. HE PLACED A CYLINDRICAL STEEL BLOCK BETWEEN THE SPINDLE AND THE HYDRAULIC PRESS CYLINDER. AT A PRESSURE OF APPROXIMATELY 9,000 POUNDS, THE MATERIAL BEING PRESSED SHIFTED, THROWING THE BLOCK FORWARD. THE STEEL BLOCK STRUCK THE EMPLOYEE IN THE HEAD AND LANDED APPROX IMATELY 72 FEET AWAY. THE IMPACT OF THE BLOCK ON HIS HEAD RESULTED IN ALMOST IMM EDIATE DEATH. AMONG THE PROBLEMS FOUND RELATING TO THE OPEATION WERE: THE ABSENC E OF BARRIER PROTECTION, LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE EQUIPMENT, OPERATIONAL NEE DS, AND THE DOOR DESIGN FOUND ON THE HOMEMADE PORTION OF THE UNIT.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 47 M
- Nature of injury
- 6
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 26
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 17
- Environmental factor
- 5
- Task assigned
- 2
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.