worker injured using lathe

Most of the incidents posted in the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog involve aluminium in some way. Here is an incident involving copper. But, it is a company that processes a lot of aluminium and we have seen this hazard on our travels. Here is the incident.

A Canadian based company has been fined $60,000 after a worker at one its facility was struck by flying metal.

The company which manufactures and distributes commercial roofing products, has been found guilty of not ensuring a safe workplace for its employees. The ruling came down on during the week of March 4, 2018 after a worker in one of the company’s facility was seriously injured on the job.

According to a release, the worker was trimming a large copper disc on a lathe to create what is called a flashing hub. The flashing hub would be used to connect flat roof drains to downspouts.

As the worker was attempting to trim the copper disc with a cutting tool, the tool got caught and tore a large piece of copper off the disc. That piece of copper hit the worker, causing serious injuries.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the machinery was not shielded enough to protect the worker, contrary to provincial legislation.

In addition to the $60,000 fine, the court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge.

We pray that the injured worker recovers fully from his injuries. In our experience injuries involving lathes occur more frequently with older lathes. These older lathes lack (in many instances) current safety mechanisms. Including but not limited to emergency stop buttons, guarding systems, electronic eyes, etc.

All older machinery should be reviewed on a regularly schedule to investigate if the current safety mechanisms are being utilized. How to do that? The easiest way is to contact the current manufacturer (or a similar manufacturer) and ask “what are the safety mechanisms installed in this machinery”. Then review your current equipment.

The Aluminium Times magazine had an article dealing with older machinery. It can be downloaded here.

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