"machine was stopped, but components...were not blocked as required"

The importance of training is repeatedly stated in this blog. Training is the foundation for what our workers do on a daily basis. Training should afford each worker with the ability to acknowledge circumstances that are outside of their training. It is those instances where workers should pause and acknowledge that if they are faced with something outside their training they should report the incident to their supervisor immediately. Why? Well training should cover all steps in the procedure. As well as all possibilities or variables that could go wrong or affect the process. Here is a recent story.

An aluminium foundry employer pleaded guilty and has been fined $50,000 after a worker suffered a permanent injury while working with molten metal.

The incident took place in Canada. The business is a manufacturer of aluminum automotive parts.

In the summer of 2015, a worker sustained injuries to a hand while working at the foundry. Work was being performed on a low-pressure casting machine that makes castings by introducing molten metal (aluminium) into a mold.

While operating the machine the worker noticed that the machine was not pressurizing as expected, stopped the machine in order to inspect it and discovered that molten metal had flowed out of the mold and onto the surface area of the machine. There was excess metal on a gear track that would impede movement and prevent the machine from operating properly. The worker, along with a colleague, began to clean the excess metal and the machine was stopped, but components called "core pulls" were not blocked as required by safety laws. The worker's colleague activated the core pulls while the machine was in its manual setting.

As the core pulls began to move, the worker attempted to pick out a piece of metal from the vicinity of the core pulls. The worker's hand got caught in the pinch point formed by the gear track and gear drive assembly, causing injuries.

Section 75 of Regulation 851/90 - the Regulation for Industrial Establishments - requires an employer to ensure that a part of a machine, transmission machinery, device or thing be cleaned, oiled, adjusted repaired or have maintenance work performed on it only when, a) motion that may endanger a worker has stopped and b) any part that has been stopped and that may subsequently move and endanger a worker has been blocked to prevent its movement. This was contrary to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The aluminium foundry was fined $50,000 on September 20, 2017.

The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

We pray that in the two years since the worker suffered the injury that he has been provided the necessary mental and physical rehabilitation that is required. All too often employers forget that long after the physical scars the mental scars are still present.

Though this incident occurred two years ago it came to the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog’s attention by the recent court case. We have posted similar incidents in the past. Where an equipment operator has an issue. Instead of following procedure and locking the machine out they proceed with correcting the issue. Most of the incidents involving this failure to follow training commonly involves amputations or decapitations. What we tell workers is that skipping steps, making assumptions can easily result in an injury. In this incident the worker who failed to properly lock out the machine has a permanent disability. When ever he looks at his hand or tries to use it. He remember what happened. He will regret for the rest of his life not following training. 

We pray that the readers will print this story out and use it during a tool box talk.

Please comment.