OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221397359
HERSHEY CHOCOLATE & CONFECTIONERY CORPORATION
ROBINSON, IL·
Event description
Employee amputates fingertip in toffee cooker after cleaning
Investigation abstract
At 4:50 p.m. on September 24, 2021, an employee working as a machine operator ensure everyone was clear of the equipment. The employee was at the South end of the toffee cooker watching the lower piece come up into place. As the lower piece was being raised up, the employee reached inside with her right hand to adjust the seal. The employee caught her pinkie finger between the lower cooker plate and the alignment pin. The employee received medical treatment without hospitalization for a partial amputation below the first knuckle. The employee received onsite medical care prior to being transported to the local emergency room via ambulance. for a confectionary products manufacturer was working on a crew cleaning the east toffee cooker. The crew consisted of the employee, Coworker #1, an operator, and Coworker #2, an operator trainee. The toffee cooker consists of an upper plate and a lower plate that are raised and lowered to separate the cooker. The crew had locked out and tagged out (LOTO) the toffee cooker by all members of the crew under a gang lock system. Once the toffee cooker was cleaned, the crew installed the gasket, and it was ready to be closed. Everyone removed their LOTO devices from the lockout point and issued an "all clear" to
Victim
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#1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 39 F
- Event type
- 2
- Occupation code
- 779
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.