This document is available in spanish. (Este documento está disponible en español.) This document is a summary of a larger document in english.
SUMMARY : CASE 192-012-01
A maintenance worker in a fruit drying plant was cleaning and oiling a tray transporter. A tray transporter is a set of rollers which move trays of fruit across the plant. The rollers are turned by a chain drive and a rotating shaft. The safe method to clean and oil this tray transporter is to shut the power off, lock the power switch, unbolt a guard that shields the rollers, and work on that side, opposite the chain drive and shaft.
To save time the worker left the transporter running and did not unbolt the guard. Instead he climbed under the transporter and worked on the same side as the rotating shaft. When he leaned over the rotating shaft to oil the rollers the shaft caught his jacket sleeve. The shaft pulled his arm in and broke both bones in his forearm. His partner got to the switch in a few seconds and turned off the machine.
How could this injury have been prevented?
Publication #: CDHS(COHP)-FI-92-005-06
This document 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.
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
