Clean-up Person at Veneer Factory Killed When Cut-off Saw Inadvertently Activated–Virginia

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
• Description:
  A 26-year-old male clean up person at a veneer manufacturing facility died after being struck by a rotating cut off saw while trying to clear a jammed log from the sawline. The employer was a hardwood veneer manufacturing company of 174 employees, working two 12-hour shifts per day. The victim had been working at the site for 8 weeks. The victim and coworkers were working a semiautomatic log processing system (sawline). Logs were processed on the line to be used in manufacturing veneer. A log jammed at the cut off saw and several attempts were made to free it so the work could continue. At one point the victim jumped up on the out-feed conveyor frame. The grader operator observed the victim on the out-feed conveyor near the rotating saw and signaled to the debarker operator to shut down the saw. The debarker reached for the shutdown button but inadvertently pushed the cut off cycle control instead, causing the saw to immediately advance across the sawline, striking the victim. The saw amputated his right leg and severed the anterior and posterior parts of his chest and abdomen. Recommendations include ensuring that lockout/tagout procedures be developed and implemented to protect workers, that control panels be configured to prevent inadvertent activation of assembly line functions, and that a comprehensive safety program be developed which includes training employees in hazards recognition and avoidance.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Forestry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis FACE-94-20 Lumber-industry OSHA Region 3 Sawmill-workers Traumatic-injuries
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Manufacturing ; Prevention through Design (PtD) ; Temporary Worker
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE9420
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Virginia ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00225275
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-200481
• Citation:
  Morgantown, : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1994/07/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8371ab2091385fc5f8ad4f605fb111657d5b8e6521d7288ef0c1b0d29f607fca69fbc2c0bec5b91588d939a352b0554ccf5ae387e1288ad4256f2bfc2d0cccce
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167458/cdc_167458_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 273.94 KB ]