Custom Cooler, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 7, 2013: Employee amputates fingers in roll forming machine

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on August 7, 2013, an employee was operating a roll f orming and bending machine inside production room. He was bending and rolling a metal sheet, approximately 47-in wide by 0.125-in thick, when sheet got jammed i nside machine. The employee put his left hand inside machine through an open spa ce of existing guard to fix and adjust the jammed sheet. While his hand was stil l inside, metal cutter came down and hit his fingers. The employee suffered a pa rtial amputation to his left four fingers. Paramedics were called in and the emp loyee was transported to the Pomona Valley Hospital, where he was hospitalized a nd surgery was performed on his fingers.

Incident on Nov 17, 2010: Employee's wrist contacts saw, amputated hand

At approximately 2:40 PM on November 17, 2010, Employee #1 was working in the Wo od Department. He had just finished cutting a stack of two 2 ft by 4 ft wooden b oards using a Northtech Industrial Machinery cutoff saw (Model Number NT-CS-18, Serial Number 040521, 18 in. blade diameter, 3,600 rpm for saw blade speed). He removed the wooden boards from the infeed side (right side), and from the same i nfeed side, he then leaned in with his right hand and reached under the safety p rotection cover (21.5 in. by 7 in. opening) and through the point-of-operation. His intention was to pull the wooden boards on the outfeed side (left side) thro ugh to the right side. The cutoff saw was still in "activation mode". As he proc eeded to extract the boards, the clamp came down and pinned his hand/arm to the table. The rotating saw blade came up and amputated his right hand at the wrist. His foot was away from the foot operation pedal, and he was unaware of how the saw was activated. The openings of the safety protection cover and the hold-down clamp hood failed to prevent him from access to the saw's point-of-operation. T he cause of this accident was failure of the saw's guards to be set up in confor mance. Employee #1 was transported to a medical center. At the medical center, h e underwent surgical procedures and received postoperative care and was then hos pitalized.