OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #890764
J V WELLS, INC.
SHARPTOWN, MD·
Event description
Employee's fingers amputated by saw blade
Investigation abstract
At approximately 3:05 p.m. on May 12, 1989, Employee #1 was using a band resaw t pment between the boards, contacting the 7 in. wide band blade before he could s top the equipment. Three fingers on his left hand were amputated. First aid was administered at the site before he was taken to PG Hospital, Salisbury, MD. The employee was later flown to Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, MD. o rip 1 in. lumber. He had inserted a 1 in. thick by 14 ft long board into the s aw and was guiding it through the blade with his left hand. Approximately 8 ft o f the board had been ripped when he depressed a foot pedal that controlled a con veyor that dropped another 14 ft long piece of lumber onto a live roll conveyor. The board traveled on edge along the conveyor and entered the opening between a feed roll guard and the board being cut. The 14 ft long board contacted a feed roll and Employee #1's left hand was pinched between it and the remaining portio n of the lumber to be ripped. He could not free his hand and it entered the equi
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 29 Male
- Nature of injury
- Amputation (1)
- Part of body
- FINGER(S) (10)
- Accident type
- CAUGHT IN OR BETWEEN (2)
- Source of injury
- MACHINE (26)
- Occupation
- Sawing machine operators (727)
- Human factor
- MALFUNC IN SECURING/WARNING OP (4)
- 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.