California Department of Health Services
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SUMMARY : CASE
292-009-01
At a
vegetable processing plant, a machine operator's foot was
amputated while walking down a trimming line. On the trimming
line the vegetables are cut to size, and the trimmings are
dumped into a trough that runs along the floor. Inside the
trough a metal auger turns like a screw, pushing the vegetable
matter out of the trimming area. The trough is covered with
heavy grates. Somehow, one of the grates covering the trough
was not in place and the machine operator stepped or slipped
into the turning auger, tearing off the left foot and ankle.
The machine operator is not certain how the injury happened,
and nobody was watching. Co-workers, and then the fire department,
arrived quickly, stopping the machine and applying a tourniquet.
The injured machine operator's foot was too badly mangled
for the hospital to surgically reattach it.
How
could this injury have been prevented?
- The
guard over the moving auger should not be easy to remove.
- The
auger can be made of a lighter, more flexible material than
metal, such as rubber or plastic, which will give way when
a person's hand or foot becomes trapped.
- Contact
switches can be connected to the grate so that if the grate
is raised the power to the auger will switch off.
- Running
water, rather than an auger, can be used to carry vegetable
matter down the trough.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
document,
CDHS(COHP)-FI-92-005-11
,
was extracted from a series of the Nurses Using Rural Sentinal
Events (NURSE) project, conducted by the California Occupational
Health Program of the California Department of Health Services,
in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. Publication date: May 1992.
The NURSE (Nurses Using Rural Sentinel Events) project is
conducted by the California Occupational Health Program
of the California Department of Health Services, in conjunction
with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health. The program's goal is to prevent occupational injuries
associated with agriculture. Injuries are reported by hospitals,
emergency medical services, clinics, medical examiners,
and coroners. Selected cases are followed up by conducting
interviews of injured workers, co-workers, employers, and
others involved in the incident. An on-site safety investigation
is also conducted. These investigations provide detailed
information on the worker, the work environment, and the
potential risk factors resulting in the injury. Each investigation
concludes with specific recommendations designed to prevent
injuries, for the use of employers, workers, and others
concerned about health and safety in agriculture.
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