OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14542526
MAINTENANCE,ROLLER--MACH/PART,CRUSHED,ARM,NIP POINT
Event description
CAUGHT AND CRUSHED BY RUBBER ROLLERS IN TOWEL PLANT
Investigation abstract
THE DYE RANGE (ROPE RANGE) LINE IN A TOWEL MANUFACTURING PLANT CONSISTED OF A DY UNDER THE BOTTOM OF THE LOWER RUBBER ROLLER. THE EMPLOYEE GOT CAUGHT AT THE LOW ER NIP POINT, WAS PULLED INTO THE WASHER UNDER THE BOTTOM RUBBER ROLLER, AND THE N PULLED AROUND THE BACKSIDE OF THE IN-RUNNING NIP POINT OF THE TWO RUBBER ROLLE RS. THE VICTIM'S RIGHT ARM WAS CAUGHT IN THE ROLLERS, PULLING HIS ARM OFF AT THE ELBOW AND CAUSING FATAL INTERNAL INJURIES. NO ONE WITNESSED THE ACCIDENT. THE V ICTIM'S POCKET KNIFE WAS FOUND INSIDE THE WASHER. HE POSSIBLLY WAS USING HIS KNI FE TO CUT LOOSE THREADS (AS HE HAD BEEN SEEN DOING PREVIOUSLY), AND DROPPED HIS KNIFE, WHEN HE REACHED FOR THE KNIFE HE COULD HAVE BECOME CAUGHT BY THE NIP POIN T. RESCUERS CLAIM THAT PRESSURE WAS ALREADY RELEASED FROM THE ROLLERS WHEN THEY ARRIVED. E AREA, A STREAMER, AND 3 SLACK LOOP WASHERS. THE WASHER OPERATOR'S (EMPLOYEE #1 ) JOB WAS TO SEE THAT THE TOWELS DID NOT WRAP UP OR PULL TOO TIGHTLY ON THE RUBB ER WASHER ROLLERS. IF TOO MUCH SLACKNESS OR TIGHTNESS OCCURRED, THE EMPLOYEE WOU LD REACH INSIDE THE FRAMEWORK TO "PULL SLACK," A PROCESS INVOLVING RELEASING THE PRESSURE ON THE TWO RUBBER ROLLERS AND HOLDING ONTO THE TOWELS AT VARIOUS LOCAT IONS ALONG THE ROLLS UNTIL THE PROBLEM WAS CORRECTED. THE FIRST SLACK LOOP WASHE R'S FRAME WORK ON THE OUTFEED SIDE WAS 37 INCHES OFF THE FLOOR. THERE WAS AN ING OING NIP POINT 30 INCHES FROM THE OUTER EDGE OF THE FRAMEWORK WHERE A TOWEL WENT
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 28 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 26
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 14
- 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.