OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #890756
LONG LIFE TREATED WOOD INC
HEBRON, MD·
Event description
Employee's hand cut by rotating blades
Investigation abstract
At approximately 9:45 a.m. on April 27, 1989, Employee #1, the operator of a Pen reached into the equipment while the blades were still rotating. His left hand contacted the moving blades, resulting in severe lacerations, for which he was h ospitalized. The doors that protect the blades are inadequate because they can b e opened in seconds, exposing the operator to rotating blades even after the pow er is disengaged. du saw system, pushed the emergency STOP button to de-energize the equipment. Th e system, which contains gang saw blades on two horizontal shafts, was being use d to rip 2 in. thick lumber into smaller widths. The employee needed to remove a piece of broken board and he opened the doors protecting the blades to reach in and retrieve it. Because there is no braking system for these gang saw blades, they continue to rotate for as long as one minute after the STOP button has been pushed. Employees are required to wait until the blades have come to a complete stop before entering the equipment. Employee #1 did not obey this work rule and
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 56 Male
- Nature of injury
- Cut/Laceration (7)
- Part of body
- HAND(S) (12)
- Accident type
- CAUGHT IN OR BETWEEN (2)
- Source of injury
- MACHINE (26)
- Occupation
- Sawing machine operators (727)
- Human factor
- OTHER (14)
- Environmental factor
- SHEAR POINT ACTION (3)
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- Task assigned
- Task regularly assigned (1)
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.