Accident: 200800027 - Injured When Hair Caught In Rotating Machine Parts

Employee #1 was attempting to listen to low frequency sound from a bearing being turned in a speed lathe when her hair became entangled around the bearing, pulling her head down toward the lathe. An approximately 3 in. by 8 in. section of hair was pulled out of her scalp.

entangled, hair, lathe, rotating parts, clearance, work rules, bearing, caught by

Accident: 200350163 - Fingers Amputated In Machine

Employee #1 was adjusting the bearing housing on a piece of equipment when his hand became caught in the in-going nip point, amputating two of his fingers. He had failed to lock out the equipment, and the belt was not guarded to prevent inadvertent contact.

amputated, finger, hand, caught by, nip point, bearing, lockout, work rules, unguarded, maintenance

Accident: 170563092 - Severs Finger In Press

Employee #1 was using a bearing press machine to press a bearing retainer ring into the bearing housing. After he pressed the ring into place, the press returned to the up position. When Employee #1 reached into the machine to retrieve the part, the press unexpectedly came down and caught the tips of his fingers between the press and the part. Employee #1 stated that when he put his hand onto the ring, he realized that he had made a mistake. He hit the STOP button, but it was too late. The tips of the 2nd and 3rd fingers of his left hand were amputated. Most of the injuries Employee #1 sustained occurred when he jerked his hand back. If Employee #1 had grabbed the tool by the designed handles, his fingers would not have been caught. After further investigation, it was found that the timer on the machine had malfunctioned. The machine has been taken out of service and disassembled. The company remanufactures wheel bearings for rail cars.

severed, finger, press, work rules, mech malfunction, amputated, caught between, point of operation, press operator, bearing

Accident: 170210744 - Crushed By Falling Concrete Plank

On November 9, 1993, Employee #1, an ironworker with Pioneer Construction Inc., was setting precast concrete floor planks on the third story of a house. He and a coworker had set one truck load of planks and were working on the second truck load. After setting three planks, they decided to remove one because it had been set incorrectly. In order to get straps around that plank, they used pinch bars to move the other two planks away from it. Despite the effort, they still could not get the straps around that first plank, so they started prying them over again. The bearing wall failed and caused some of the planks to fall to the second floor, carrying Employee #1 with them. Another plank weighing approximately 8,000 pounds then fell on the upper third of Employee #1's body, crushing him to death.

construction, concrete panel, plank, crushed, fall, fall protection, unguarded fl opening, work rules, bearing, wall

Accident: 170354336 - Crushes Fingertips In Machinery

At approximately 2:20 p.m. on July 6, 1993, Employee #1, the house mechanic, was assigned to repair the chip elevator at a beet washing station. As Employee #1 came down a level from his work area, he noticed that the chip screw conveyor was malfunctioning (a bearing was dragging). He stopped, looked, and radioed for assistance. While waiting for the maintenance supervisor, he decided to clear the debris. Employee #1 grabbed a screwdriver with his right hand and reached into the east end area of the moving conveyor with the first two fingers of his left hand. As he tried to grab the weeds, his two fingers became caught between the flight on the screw conveyor and the bearing hanger. The tips of the two fingers were crushed, and he was hospitalized.

caught between, crushed, conveyor, bearing, mechanic, finger, work rules, lockout

Accident: 170107163 - Killed Between Brick Setting Machine Parts

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on or about September 10, 1991, Employee #1 went under an indexing table on a brick setting machine. Because no lock/tag procedure was followed, the operator moved the index table forward and caught Employee #1's head between a brace under the table and the support of the bearing that he was greasing. Employee #1 died of his injuries on September 12, 1991.

brick setting mach, unstable position, lockout, work rules, head, caught between, brace, bearing, maintenance

Accident: 762450 - Injured When Elevator Free Falls To Pit

Fourteen employees were riding a freight elevator when a bearing failed, causing the wire rope to jump off the counterweight sheave. The counterweight fell, causing the elevator to fall approximately 45 feet to the pit. One car safety was broken and did not operate; the second safety did not hold. The employees sustained broken feet, legs, ribs, and vertebrae, and bruises.

elevator, equipment failure, bearing, fracture, fall, foot, leg, vertebra, rib, contusion