OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221360977

KERRY INC.

MANITOWOC, WI· 2021-05-22T00:00:00

Event: Amputated, Amputation, Belt, Caught Between, Clogged, Communication, Conveyor, Conveyor Belt, Crushed, Disconnecting Means, Emergency Stop, Finger, Hand, Lead, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Machine Guarding, Machine operator, Manufacturing, Miscommunication, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Nip Point, Partial Amputation, Pinch Point, Pinched, Pipe, Pulled In, Pulley, Repair, Replace, Replacing, Safety Device, Screw Conveyor, Supervisor, Surgical Amputation
NAICS: 311942
Inspection type: Referral
Activity number: #345339584
Employer profile: KERRY INC.
Summary number: 221360977
Report ID: 0521100

Event description

Employee crushes finger in belt and pulley, later amputated

Investigation abstract

At 2:29 p.m. on May 22, 2021, an employee working as a team lead for a spice and next to the conveyor. There were no start or stop buttons for the conveyor line on the roof and flipping the disconnect switch controlled the motion of the conveyor. The employee was in the process of unclogging the saw dust and replacing the motor belt. There was miscommunication regarding the proper belt size for the motor drive. The team had removed the expanded metal guard from the belt and pulley. At about the same time, the coworker removed the lockout device from electrical disconnect. The employee was able to look through an inspection port on the top of the conveyor housing to observe if the screw conveyor was turning. As the employee turned the disconnect switch on, the employee touched the belt on the in-running nip point side to check the belt tension. The extract manufacturer accessed the roof area of the facility to bring a B52 belt employee's left hand was pulled into the nip point crushing his index finger. The employee was hospitalized and 1/3rd of his finger required surgical amputation. to a coworker. The employee noted that the saw dust dryer was turned off after it became clogged within either the piping and/or the conveyor system. The piping from the saw dust dryer was being suctioned up to the roof of the facility feeding the Riverside 1040 screw conveyor which ran the length of the building approximately 60 feet. The screw conveyor was equipped with slide gates that directed the saw dust into the storage bins while operating. The screw conveyor was powered by an electric motor connected to an electrical disconnect

Victim

#1 Hospitalized Age 36 M

Event type
2

Occupation code
633

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.