Ebiwash Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jan 31, 2022: Employee amputates thumb trying to manually raise conveyor

At 3:38 p.m. on January 31, 2022, an employee was working as a cashier at a car wash that combines hand washing and an automatic wash, wax and drying tunnel. The vehicles are driven to the entrance and positioned at the chain driven MacNeil Model 440 Conveyor. The vehicle is stopped and the employee hand washes the car. When the hand wash is complete, an employee goes to the control station and presses the "send car" button which causes two rollers to be raised from under the conveyor to the top of the track where they engage the left rear tire of the vehicle to push it through the car wash. On January 29, 2022, a malfunction occurred in the conveyor that caused the rollers to not raise from the bottom track when the 'send car' button was pressed. The employee inspected the conveyor roller system and confirmed that the roller raising mechanism was not engaging properly. Coworker #1 (Store Manager) contacted Coworker #2 (Owner) who contacted the maintenance vendor. A technician was sent to troubleshoot the issue and determined that a part failed and would need to be replaced. Several parts would have to be ordered and the repair would be completed when they were received. The car wash staff were verbally instructed to manually drive the vehicles through the car wash until the repair completed. The employee raised the "call up mat", a flexible rubber flap that covers the roller assembly, and attempted to manually raise the "call up fork" to send a roller to the top track. The employee caught his right thumb in a pinch point between the "call up fork" and the track. His thumb was amputated between the first and second knuckle. Coworkers came to his aid and were able to recover the severed thumb and preserve it in a disinfected water bottle. The manager called 911 and the EMTs responded and transported the employee to the hospital, where he was admitted and received surgery to reattach the thumb. The employee spent approximately six days in the hospital.