"suffered a hand amputation...."

 

Amputation hazards in our workplaces are well known. From machinery that moves, to saws, to presses, etc. aluminium plants understand where amputations can occur. But they still occur. Here is a recent incident highlighting the hazard of amputation.

 

A 52-year-old man has been transferred by medical helicopter (over 250 kilometers) to a hospital in (capital city) after suffering the amputation of his hand while working at the (company name omitted) aluminum factory, located on (omitted) street in the (location omitted) industrial estate.

 

As sources from government have informed Europa Press, the notice of the event was received at 7:43 p.m. The man was working with a machine that has cut him off. An ICU has taken him to the helisurface to be transferred from there by helicopter to (hospital in the capital city).

 

The local police, the National Police and the (pertinent gov’t safety agency) have traveled to the site, and the helicopter has also been mobilized.

 

We pray that the worker’s amputated hand was able to be saved. Rarely, do plants have the procedure for dealing with amputations. In the best of circumstances an amputated hand can be reattached. The individual will have some degree of use of the hand.

 

We will reach out to the company and find out what procedure was being done when the incident occurred. If we had to assume we would feel that the worker either skipped a step, or made an assumption. Sadly, over the past decade we have posted numerous incidents involving amputations.

All too often these amputation incidents come down to a lack of machinery guarding or improper machinery guarding. The Aluminium Times Magazine had two articles on this topic. They can be found here:

 

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