Decore-Ative Specialties: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jan 11, 2008: Worker cleaning wood shop fractures finger in moving rip saw

"OAt approximately 11:15 a.m. on January 11, 2008, Employee #1,of, Decore-ative Specialties Incorporated, was working in wood working shop. Employee #1, was cle aning the wood debris from bed of a straight line- rip saw and contacted the mov ing blade located in the middle of table bed. According to his employer, Employe e #1 was holding an air hose in one hand, placed the other hand inside machine w hile saw was running or did not allow the machine blade to come to a complete st op after turning off power to machine. The machine involved in the event was a s traight line-rip saw, machine number SR 116. It had a flexible fixed guard on it which was observed to be adequate and present during inspection. Employee #1 su ffered a fracture and bone loss, on his right little finger after his finger con tacted the moving blade of a table saw during cleaning work. The Employer report ed the accident to Cal/OSHA a month later instead of within 8 hours, required by regulation. Employee #1 was treated in a local clinic for few hours and release d same day. The employer, Decore-ative Specialties Incorporated, had been in bus iness of manufacturing wood cabinets at a facility located in Irwindale, Califor nia, and employed about 425 workers on the day of the incident. Employee #1, had been employed eight months as a machine operator before incident occurred. The exact sequence of events leading to this incident could not be determined as the injured, Employee #1, was not present at site during inspection and did not res pond to a subpoena for his interview either. So the observations were based on i nformation supplied by his employer."

Incident on Feb 5, 2007: Employee amputates fingers while using chop saw

At approximately 3:25 p.m. on February 5, 2007, Employee #1 was working next to her supervisor operating a chop saw. Employee #1 was operating a Rayco Travel Tr im Saw (Model Number 76-8-V, Serial Number 23280.) The Travel Trim Saw is vertic al and is used to cut the length of the panel. It is operated by pushing two but tons simultaneously. These buttons do not need to be held down for the saw to cy cle through. There is stop button, as well as an emergency cord on the pressure bar located directly in front of the saw. Employee #1 had previously complained that the saw would start up automatically. Another machine is used to cut the wi dth of the panel. Employee #1's supervisor was on a machine adjacent to Employee #1 cutting the width of the panel. Employee #1 was cross-cutting an 18.5- in. b y 19.5-in. panel. Employee #1 cut one side and was going to cut the other side. When Employee #1 was pulling the panel out, the pressure bar came down and held her right hand. The saw cycled through, resulting in the amputation of Employee #1's right middle and ring fingers. Employee #1 stated that the saw cycled throu gh on its own. The pressure beam holds the piece being worked on in place, as we ll as acting as a guard for the saw. Employee #1 was treated for an amputation o f her right middle finger, ring finger, and index finger tip. Employee #1 was ho spitalized.

Incident on Feb 27, 2006: Employee amputates fingers while using radial arm saw

At approximately 7:50 a.m. Employee #1 was cutting cardboard corners with an OMG A Radial Arm Saw Model Number 3085, when a piece of cardboard got jammed. Employ ee #1 placed the saw in the forward position, and reached around with his left h and to un-jam the piece of cardboard while the machine was still running. Employ ee #1's left hand was caught by the machine. Employee #1 was treated for an ampu tation of the left pinky, and nerve and bone damage to the left ring finger and was hospitalized.

Incident on Mar 20, 2001: Employee injured when finger caught in panel saw clamp

Decore-ative Specialties, Inc. is involved in the manufacture of kitchen cabinet ry. This involves using table saws, routers, and shapers for smaller cuts and fo r shaping. Panel saws are used to cut many pieces of wood simultaneously. Employ ee #1 was using a Holzima Panel GQ Saw, Type HPL 22/38/16, Serial Number 0-24-15 -0292 for simultaneous cuts to pieces of wood that are 30 inches wide by 44 inch es long by 0 .75 inches thick. The Holzima Panel Saw does have a guard for the b lade which does not allow cutting unless the guard is in place. However, there i s not a guard for the clamps. During the interview with Employee #1 it was disco vered that this type of work, making smaller cuts on the Holzima Panel Saw, was not uncommon and occurred about 1 to 2 times a week for the past year. The cut i s initiated by pulling an activation bar that runs length-wise across the machin e. The activation bar is approximately 37 to 38 inches from the ground. Employee #1 leaned across to put the wood in place for the cut when his belt caught the activation bar and the clamps came down on his finger. Employee #1's tip of his left index finger was crushed and an amputation took place. Employee #1 was then taken to the doctor for treatment.

Incident on Nov 4, 2000: Employee loses tip of finger using boring machine

At approximately 7:10 a.m. on November 4, 2000, Employee #1, an employee of Deco re-Ative Specialties, suffered a partial amputation to top of her left index fin ger while working on a boring machine. The model number for the boring machine w as BM-456. This machine was located in the middle of the wood working shop. She was cutting a hole in a piece of wood on the table using the drill of the boring machine when her left index finger came in contact with the moving drill bit. T he wood measured six inches by two and a quarter inches by three quarter inches. She was hospitalized in an industrial clinic for about three hours and reported back to work after two weeks of rest at home. She was interviewed about the inc ident later using an interpreter. A written accident statement was placed with t he case file. Apparently, there were no guards on the drill bit and chuck of the machine. Suitable guards were fabricated and installed later to cover the bit a nd chuck. Also, the machine did not have factory installed guards on it when it was purchased back in August of 1999.

Incident on May 1, 2000: Employee's fingers amputated by cutting machine

At about 8:15 on May 01, 2000, an employee was using an employer-designed miter coping cutter (Machine Number CM252). The machine consists of two cutting disks and two clamps. A board is placed into position where the clamps hold it in plac e. The operator depresses a foot pedal which activates the cutting disks. One di sk cuts the tongue and the other cuts the groove. The cutting disks consist of t hree carbide rotary knives. The employee's right glove was caught in the clamp a nd she attempted to remove it. When she did get her hand free, it made contact w ith the cutting blades and caused the amputation of her middle, ring, and little fingers. She was transported to Western Hand Center for treatment. Investigatio n revealed the machine was not properly guarded.

Incident on Jul 20, 1999: Employee suffers amputation of finger

At approximately 8:00 a.m. on July 20, 1999, Employee #1 was cleaning a table sa w (3SR 114 Straight-Line-Saw, Model Sl-52, S.N. 9/84M-47-53-4136) to remove the saw dust and small pieces of wood from the area underneath the table. Employee # 1 hit his left hand on the running saw blade while cleaning the area resulting i n the amputation of his left index finger and a deep laceration on the middle an d ring finger. Employee #1 stated that he turned off the saw but he did not lock the switch in the "off" position before he started cleaning. Employee #1 also s tated that he did not know if the blade was still running. Employee #1 was hospi talized.

Incident on May 5, 1999: Employee amputated thumb in chop saw

At approximately 1:00 p.m. on May 7, 1999, a serious injury occurred at Decore-A tives Specialties in Irwindale, California in the mill department. The employer is engaged in manufacturing wood cabinets. Employee #1 was working on a Whirlwin d Chop saw, Model CS295, cutting Red Oak wood pieces that were .075 in. by 2 in. by 10 in. He had cut approximately 200 pieces before the accident. Just before the accident, he fed a piece of wood into the saw and pushed the foot pedal. His left thumb got caught between the piece of wood and the hold down device and ti p of his thumb got crushed. Right after the accident, the victim was taken to We stern Hand Center in Downey California for surgery and steel pins were inserted in his thumb for support. Employee #1 has since had two other surgeries on his t humb. After the investigation, no accident-related violation was found and no ci tation was issued as a result of accident, however a regulatory and a serious vi olation were found and citations were issued to the employer.

Incident on Mar 20, 1998: Employee's finger amputated in conveyor sprocket chain

At approximately 3:50 p.m. on March 20, 1998, Employee #1, of Decorative Special ties Inc., was cleaning the Compu-Rip machine in Department #1. He was pulling a stuck piece of wood out of the roller conveyor when his right hand struck a spr ocket chain pinch point, amputating one of his fingers. The machine was running at the time and the power supply had not been disconnected prior to cleaning. Th e sprocket chain drive had an inadequate guard.

Incident on Oct 24, 1997: Employee's thumb amputated in wood shaper

Employee #1, of Decorative Specialties, Inc., was operating a wood shaping machi ne when he lost control of the piece on which he was working. His right thumb st ruck the blade and was amputated to nearly the first joint. Employee #1 was not using push blocks.

Incident on May 13, 1997: Employee's pelvis fractured when struck by falling boards

Employee #1, of Decorative Specialties, Inc., Irwindale, CA, was vertically stac king 50 lb, 49 in. by 96 in. particleboards, when eight of the boards fell on hi m. He suffered a fractured pelvis. Employee #1 had been trained to stack horizon tally, rather than vertically.

Incident on Aug 30, 1996: Employee's hand crushed in rollers of glue spreader machine

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on August 30, 1996, Employee #1, of Decorative Specia lties, Inc., had finished sweeping the floors in Department 6V and was using a t owel to clean the rolls of the glue spreader machine. The power supply was on an d the machine was running when her right hand became caught in the revolving rol lers and was crushed. According to the employer, Employee #1 was not supposed to clean the machine, but chose to do so on her own. She could not be contacted, b ut a coworker said she was cleaning the rolls at the time of the accident.

Incident on Jul 16, 1996: Employee's fingers amputated in wood shaping machine

At approximately 9:15 a.m. on July 16, 1996, Employee #1 was manually feeding sm all wood pieces, called doors, into a wood shaping machine, #38556 FD 24. One of the doors broke, and his hand slipped into the blade. Employee #1 suffered part ial amputation of the index, middle, and ring fingers on his left hand. The guar d on the machine was not of the proper design and did not prevent the employee's hand from contacting the cutting edge of the blade. Employee #1 worked in the p roduction department of Decorative Specialties, Inc., Irwindale, CA,

Incident on Dec 16, 1995: Employee's fingers amputated by cutter blade

At approximately 4:45 a.m. on December 16, 1995, Employee #1, of DeCore-ative Sp ecialities Inc., was cutting thin sheets of wood (mica type) using a Gustav Jost ing veneer cutter, model OF1300, MASCH #8221, BANJAHR 1973. Employee #1 cut a 25 in. by 10 in. stack of 20 thin sheets about 1 in. thick using a two-hand contro l device. As he reached to grab the cut part, the cutter blade (about 5 ft long) dropped onto his right hand, amputating the index and middle fingers. The cause of the accident could not be established. No violation of T8CCR was found and t herefore no citation was issued.

Incident on Oct 18, 1990: Employee's fingertip injured when struck by wood

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on October 18, 1990, Employee #1, of Decorative Speci alties, was using a wood shaper when the piece of wood he was working on partial ly broke. It kicked back and nipped his left little finger between the stock and the stock support. He was treated at Foothill Medical Clinic and released after a several hours. Employee #1 later stated through an interpreter (his shop supe rvisor) that the saw guard antikickback device was in place at the time of the a ccident. Employee #1 had approximately 3 years of experience on the table saw.