Printpack, Inc.

A maintenance employee was using a rubber roll grinding lathe to resurface a rubber roller/sleeve. The lathe has a grinding wheel attached to it which passes across the roller to remove a fine layer of rubber from the roller to remove any blemishes that would affect the printing process when it is placed back into a printing press. When the employee went to wipe the rubber dust away from the roller/sleeve their right ring finger contacted the grinding wheel at the end of the lathe. The employee sustained an open fracture of the distal phalanx of the right ring finger resulting in a surgical, partial amputation and a laceration to the little finger with damage to the nail.