Mindlance Inc: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 7, 2020: Employee's fingers are amputated by tank

At 10:45 p.m. on August 7, 2020, an employee was checking the nitrogen accumulator of a molding machine RO1. The employee was checking this on a bended knee with his hands placed on the concrete floor. The site was a dual employer site with Thermo Fisher Scientific, where the employee was an employee of a Temporary Agency. At roughly the same time, a coworker (of Thermo Fisher Scientific) approached the area with an unsecured nitrogen cylinder tank on a hand truck. When employee stopped the truck, the unsecured nitrogen cylinder tank fell towards the left hand of the employee and amputated his left-hand middle and ring fingers. Thermo Fisher Scientific reported the incident to CAL/OSHA on August 7, 2020, at 3:45pm. There was no reporting received from the primary employer. On August 12, 2020, Cal/OSHA conducted an accident investigation at the site of the accident. According to the employees involved, the injector machine was experiencing down time. The employee was checking the machine on his bended knee and hands on the floor. According to the coworker, he was proactive to help in the process since this was his regular job as maintenance. He grabbed the nitrogen tank from the shop on a hand truck which was not secured. The moment he stopped at the location of the machine where the injured employee was working, the unsecured nitrogen cylinder tank fell and amputated the left-hand ring finger and middle finger of the injured employee. The injured employee suffered amputation on his ring and middle fingers. He was treated at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. The employee was hospitalized for four days. The cause of the accident was an unsecured nitrogen tank that fell onto the injured employee's hand.