OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14531370
CHEST,ASPHYXIATED,CRUSHED,NECK,WASHING MACHINE
Event description
ASPHYXIATED BY COMPRESSION OF CHEST AND NECK
Investigation abstract
ON AUGUST 19, 1986, AT APPROXIMATELY 6:35 AM, EMPLOYEE #1 AND ANOTHER EMPLOYEE W ABOVE THE FLOOR, IN ORDER TO REACH THE RIGHT-HAND TUB DOOR. THE OTHER EMPLOYEE CLOSED THE LEFT-HAND TUB DOOR WHILE EMPLOYEE #1 WAS ATTEMPTING TO ATTEMPTING TO CLOSE THE RIGHT HAND TUB DOOR. THE TUB DOOR INTERLOCK SWITCH SYSTEM, WHICH PREVE NTS THE CYLINDER FROM TURNING WHEN THE DOORS ARE OPEN, IS WIRED IN SERIES. THE L EFT-HAND TUB DOOR SWITCH WAS CLOSED WHEN THE DOOR WAS SHUT; THE RIGHT-HAND TUB D OOR SWITCH WAS IN THE CLOSED POSITION AT THIS TIME. THE CYLINDER STARTED IN THE UPWARD DIRECTION, PULLING EMPLOYEE #1 FEET-FIRST BETWEEN THE CYLINDER AND TUB DO OR. HIS NECK AND CHEST WERE CRUSHED, PREVENTING HIM FROM BREATHING. HE WAS ASPHY XIATED. ERE PREPARING A 900 POUND CAPACITY, 54 INCH BY 128 INCH, CYLINDER, CASCADE UNLOA DING COMMERCIAL WASHER FOR THE WASH CYCLE. THE MACHINE WAS MANUFACTURED BY THE A MERICAN LAUNDRY MACHINE, INC., SERIAL #2263 M 2017. THE SEQUENCE AND DURATION OF THE WASH OPERATIONS ARE CONTROLLED FROM A SEPARATE CONTROL TOWER LOCATED TO ONE SIDE OF THE MACHINE. DURING WASH OPERATIONS THE WASHER MOTOR DRIVES THE CYLINDE R AT 25 RPM AND REVERSES DIRECTION OF ROTATION THREE TIMES PER MINUTE. WITH THE "SAFE/ON/ONE WAY" SELECTOR SWITCH IN THE "ON" POSITION, EMPLOYEE #1 STOOD ON A W ATER INLET PIPE, LOCATED ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE WASHER, APPROXIMATELY 45 INCHES
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 18 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 5
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 26
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 9
- Environmental factor
- 4
- Task assigned
- 1
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.