OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #976134
HEAD,WORK RULES,LOCKOUT,CAUGHT BETWEEN,LACERATION,BALER,ARM,CONTUSION,MACHINE--MISC
Event description
EMPLOYEE CRUSHED TO DEATH IN PAPER BALER
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS PLACING SCRAP PAPER IN AN AMERICAN HOEST PAPER BALER MACHINE. WH OVER THE COMPACTING AREA. EMPLOYEE #1'S BODY BLOCKED THE LIGHT, CAUSING THE PLUN GER TO ACTIVATE AND CLOSE ON HIS BODY. HE RECEIVED CUTS, LACERATIONS, BRUISES, C ONTUSIONS AND INTERNAL INJURIES. HE WAS HOSPITALIZED AND DIED WITHIN 12 HOURS. EN THE REQUIRED AMOUNT WAS COMPRESSED FOR A BALE, HE WOULD INSERT A HOOKED TIP T BAR INTO THE MACHINE TO PULL UP THE CORDS TO TIE THE BALE. ON THE THIRD AND LAS T CORD, THE BAR GOT STUCK INSIDE THE MACHINE. HE ENTERED THE FILL CHAMBER THROUG H A 15 BY 15 1/2 INCH OPENING. HE PLACED HIS HEAD, ARMS, AND UPPER PART OF HIS B ODY IN THE COMPACTING ZONE WHERE HE USED HIS HANDS TO TWIST THE BAR IN ORDER TO WORK IT LOOSE. ANOTHER EMPLOYEE WAS TRYING TO FREE THE BAR FROM THE OUTSIDE OF T HE MACHINE. THE MACHINE WAS SET ON AUTOMATIC MODE, IN WHICH IT USUALLY CYCLED EV ERY 12 TO 15 SECONDS. IN AUTOMATIC, THE MACHINE IS ACTIVATED BY AN ELECTRIC EYE
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 32 M
- Nature of injury
- 3
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 26
- Occupation code
- 758
- Human factor
- 17
- 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.