FACE Facts: Employee Dies After Being Crushed in a Baler

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  New York State Department of Health ; Health Research, Inc.
• Description:
  A department store processing manager died after he was crushed in a cardboard baling machine. The safety gate was not closed prior to his pushing the "down" button to begin baling. In addition, for an unknown reason, the employee climbed into the baling chamber where he was crushed by the baler's hydraulic ram. A post-incident baler examination found that the electrical wiring had been altered to bypass the "On or Off" switch, and the gate safety switch had been short-circuited by a piece of two-inch wire. By doing so, power was always supplied to the machine and the baling machine could operate with the safety gate up. HOW CAN THIS BE PREVENTED? Employees should: Inspect all baling machines periodically to ensure safety features are working properly. Develop, implement, and enforce a baling machine safety program. Provide training and ensure management and other employees know and understand the importance of baler safety features, such as the safety gate and lockout/tagout program, and how they work. Ensure authorized baler operators follow standard safe operating procedures. Follow the manufacturer's recommended schedule for baling machine maintenance. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Equipment-design Retail-workers Safety-measures Safety-research Traumatic-injuries
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  New York State Department of Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Fact Sheet
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034204
• Citation:
  Troy, NY: New York State Department of Health, 2004 Sep; :1
• Contact Point Address:
  NYSDOH FACE Program, Bureau of Occupational Health, Flanigan Square, Room 230, 547 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  New York State Department of Health/Health Research Incorporated
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010901
• Source Full Name:
  FACE facts: employee dies after being crushed in a baler
• End Date:
  20060831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d45c61757d490f36bdcb930eb93ab4e8dfc55ea1ffb616ac8f182a3e9764a8aec5cd3031d1de8461caa6f07654f952b19dbea2ef7f3906b97d6edffd803f4035
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228576/cdc_228576_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 191.38 KB ]