" press lowered, crushing the worker's limb...."

 

Machine guarding can either be a physical or an electronic (laser) device. The use of laser devices is becoming more common. Here is a recent incident highlighting the potential issues when laser devices fail.

Accident at work: worker injured in the hand by a press

Accident at work this morning in a company on the outskirts of (location omitted). A worker, a 36-year-old from (location omitted), was injured in the hand, engaged in the aluminum press machine. According to what has been reconstructed, the man was bending some metal pipes from construction tinsmithery or fixtures, but inadvertently he had placed his hand on the base of the machinery, when the automatic press lowered, crushing the worker's limb. The alarm was raised by the man's own colleagues who requested the intervention of (EMS) and the carabinieri of the local station. The man was then taken care of by health workers and transferred in red code to the hospital, after which he underwent surgery on his hand. His clinical picture, fortunately does not cause concern.

The investigations

The company's headquarters in the industrial area of (location omitted) was also reached by the inspectors of the (governmental safety organization), who started investigations into the causes of the accident.

A failure of the machinery is also not excluded: the investigators are examining the hypothesis that the plant, with new technology, in the bending and pressing movement of the aluminum should have recognized the hand as a foreign body on the work base and therefore interrupted the processing. The investigations will therefore serve to shed light on the matter.

We pray that the worker’s hand will be able to be saved. We pray for the worker’s continued medical care. We pray that the worker is provided with job counseling and mental health assistance as they go through this period of recovery.

From the news articles it appears that the electronic or laser (light current) machinery guarding failed. We will update this post when further information is made available.

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