"gotten his right leg entangled in a piece of machinery....."

Guards are barriers which prevent access to danger areas. There are four types of guards: fixed, interlocked, adjustable, and self-adjusting that can be used on machinery to prevent workers from interacting with moving parts in machinery. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the need for machinery guarding.

The incident happened just before 5:00 p.m. one evening during the week of July 26, 2015 in the Southeast United States. A local Police Chief told a local television news station that that a worker was working with a piece of machinery when his right leg became entangled in the equipment. 

Officials said that a co-worker called 911 after hearing him scream for help. When first responders arrived on scene, the worker was deceased. 

The deceased worker’s body is being sent to the State Crime Lab in the state capital for autopsy. The investigation is ongoing. 

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An aluminium extrusions company official say their plant has been closed since the accident that claimed the life of worker one evening during the week of July 26, 2015, and they will make a decision two days later about when to reopen it.

An aluminium extrusions company official said in a statement issued the following night that supervisors and management were at the plant the following day, but it was still closed until an investigation was underway.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with (the deceased one’s) family and we will offer them support and condolences,” the statement said. “An investigation is ongoing into the cause of the accident. Until the investigation is complete the aluminium extrusion plant will remain closed.

“(The aluminium extrusion) company is committed to determining what happened and to operating safely,” the statement concluded.

Workers were being paid for the three days that the aluminium extrusion company was closed, the aluminium extrusion company said.

A spokesperson for the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration said OSHA will also investigate the incident.

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Local Police Chief said his department is awaiting autopsy results from the state Crime Lab to determine the exact cause of death of the deceased worker.

A report shows that the local hospital requested an officer at the factory about 4:50 p.m.

The local Police Chief said it appeared the worker’s pant leg got caught in a machine, which led to his leg getting caught and massive blood loss and subsequent death.

A detective was dispatched to investigate, the local police chief said. The autopsy was being performed to show the exact cause of death and to rule out any medical problems or possible foul play.

“Our job is strictly to determine if there were any criminal violations of the law,” the local police chief said.

He added that there didn’t appear to be any sign of wrongdoing as of Monday morning, but the investigation would continue.

Aluminium extrusion company officials were unavailable for comment, but it appeared the extrusions plant was open.

According to the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s website, all fatal accidents are to be reported to the Office of Federal Agency Programs.

“Agencies must provide the Office of Federal Agency Programs with a summary report of each fatal and catastrophic accident investigation,” the website said. “The summaries shall address the date/time of accident, agency/establishment named and location, and consequences, description of operation and the accident, causal factors, applicable standards and their effectiveness, and agency corrective/preventive actions.”

An official OSHA spokesperson, said that all fatal industrial accidents must be reported to OSHA within eight hours of the incident.

The OSHA spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into aluminium extrusion accident has been opened.

He said part of the process is for an OSHA inspector to physically visit the plant and investigate the area of the plant where the accident occurred.

He declined to say exactly when an inspector might be at the aluminium extrusion to do that investigation.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog offers our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. Our sadness for bring awareness to this incident pales in comparison to the grief and sadness that the deceased loved ones feel. We can only hope by bringing awareness to this incident that will prevent future recurrences.

The news articles failed to mention the job function that the worker was performing when his pants leg got caught into the machinery. Regardless, whatever job function he was performing from maintenance to machinery operator this incident could have been prevented with machinery guarding.

The news articles also omit the type and age of machinery in this incident. The APSB makes assumptions in the lack of information. We hope that our assumptions lead the reader to recognize or acknowledge that the hazard that killed this worker maybe present in their facility. Back to assumptions. We’ll assume that this machinery is older in age and lacks current safety mechanisms. On our plant tours around the globe the APSB is honored to visit numerous companies. We have toured brand new facilities and older facilities. The main difference in equipment at each facility is that older plants in general have equipment that lack current safety mechanisms. There are older facilities that have taken a proactive approach in updating the safety mechanisms on their older equipment. But sadly most don’t until an incident occurs that forces acknowledgment of the hazard that has been hidden in plain sight too long. When was the last time that your plant reviewed your machinery and equipment for guarding? If you cannot remember, then it has been too long.

The Occupational Safety Health Administration has useful information on machine guarding. It can be viewed here.

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