"clothes would have become entangled in the machinery ....."

 

Workers becoming entangled in machinery such as drills or lathes is commonplace. A number of years ago we were asked to visit a plant that had a run of serious incidents (e.g., finger amputations) and asked if we could tour the plant and talk with management. On our tour we pointed out to the plant manager an older drill press that did not have the latest safety mechanisms installed. We can still hear the plant managers voice “how dangerous is it really?” We replied that in the past 6 months we knew of two incidents involving workers becoming entangled in drill presses. One worker had their hand almost ripped off. The plant manager knew then the hazard associated with older machinery. Here is a recent incident that we assume involved older machinery too.

A worker, originally from a small town 100 km away, died in an accident at work on day in November 2020 in Italy. According to an initial reconstruction by the carabinieri, the man was crushed by a lathe-press used to work aluminum in the company he was employed by. The Public Prosecutor of (the providence) ordered the autopsy and the seizure of the machinery. "We express our condolences and our closeness to the worker's family. Pending the clarification of the circumstances, it is essential that the competent bodies ascertain whether the safety measures have been respected and that the worker has been given the personal protective equipment" . This was stated by several government and union officials about the death on the job in (town name omitted) of a worker from (home town omitted). "For the union - continue the two trade unionists - safety in the workplace is an indispensable priority. There are too many deaths at work and each of them calls into question the lack of controls, prevention, inspections. The latter must be strengthened, how the inspection team of the Carabinieri of the Labor Inspectorate should be strengthened ". For the trade union - continue the two trade unionists - safety in the workplace is an indispensable priority. There are too many deaths at work and each of them calls into question the lack of controls, prevention, inspections. The latter must be strengthened, as must the inspection team of the Carabinieri of the Labor Inspectorate ". For the trade union - continue the two trade unionists - safety in the workplace is an indispensable priority. There are too many deaths at work and each of them calls into question the lack of controls, prevention, inspections. The latter must be strengthened, as must the inspection team of the Carabinieri of the Labor Inspectorate ".

 

Another news article stated “got entangled with his clothes in the machinery…From what was reconstructed by the local police, who intervened at the scene of the accident, the victim was crushed by the press while he was busy working near a press. The clothes would have become entangled in the machinery to the point of not letting him escape . Rescue was immediately triggered: on the spot medical personnel of 118 who could not help but ascertain the death of the man occurred on the spot. At the scene of the tragedy, also staff of the ASP in charge of verifying whether the safety measures in the workshop have been observed.

The magistrate on duty, ordered the seizure of the body and the transfer of the latter to the morgue of a local hospital where in the next few hours, once the coroner has been appointed, an autopsy will be carried out. Also ordered the seizure of the machinery.

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. We pray that the family overtime will remember their loved one for how he lived and not how he died. We acknowledge that the memory of the loved one will never end but hope the pain will lessen over the years.

Loose clothing, wrong types of gloves, long hair, necklaces, jewelery are items that have been accidentally pulled into lathes, drill presses, and machinery in general. These are items that when we have the opportunity to speak to supervisors we talk about. Most workers are not wearing loose clothing, wrong type of gloves, long hair, necklaces, jewelery to purposely get hurt. Most times they are doing this because they forgot or they were rushed leaving their homes. Regardless, this is why the supervisors and management have to watch every shift, every day. No doubt in our opinion this tragedy could have been prevented if someone saw the workers clothing. We assume someone did, but either did not realize the potential hazard, or were hesitant/scared to intervene.

Let’s continue on the importance of intervening if you observe someone who is being unsafe. It does not matter if the individual whom you observe is a coworker, visitor, contractor, supervisor, or CEO of the company you work for. You have the moral obligation to intervene. As we have instructed thousands of workers around the globe. There are several ways to intervene depending on if your company has procedures such as notifying a supervisor, or their boss, or the plant manager. First, follow your company’s practices. If your company does not have a practice (most do not) we recommend stopping the worker and telling them what you have observed. When we have done this we have used family as a point to the worker being unsafe. For example, “Insert name, I just noticed how you skipped some steps to complete the procedure, your family would not want you to be hurt or killed because you were not following your training.”  We tell workers that when intervening to use a kind/gentle tone in your voice. If the worker says “don’t tell my boss/supervisor”. Respond, I am telling the supervisor because I care about your family and you. I do not want to attend your funeral or visit you in the hospital. Because what I just observed will either injure or kill you. It takes practice being able to intervene. But, the option is having a life filled with regret knowing that you could have prevented an incident from occurring. You can do it, we believe in you.

Please comment.