Pacific Coast Packaging: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jul 7, 2000: Employee's fingertips amputated when caught in roller

At 9:30 a.m. on July 7, 2000, Employee #1, with 3 years of experience at Pacific Coast Packaging, a cardboard box manufacturer, was operating the #1 window mach ine on the finish line when the machine began to jam repeatedly. A coworker was sent to the machine to help Employee #1 troubleshoot the problem. The coworker w as removing paper from the machine while Employee #1 leaned over to inspect the back side of the machine. He was re-webbing the window film at the back of the m achine, using his right hand to push the film into the rollers when the coworker jogged the machine to advance the rollers. Employee #1's fingertips were pulled into the roller and crushed. He was transported to Madera Hospital and then tra nsferred to University Medical Center, where he underwent surgery to remove bone in order to pull the skin over the top of the injured fingers. The employer was cited for a serious violation of T8CCR 3314(e)(2).

Incident on Oct 15, 1997: Employee injures his right hand in a roller

On October 15, 1997, Employee #1 was engaged in the manufacturing (i.e., cutting , gluing, folding and printing) of cartons. He was operating the Staude Machine when he noticed that the eye was not counting cartons correctly and decided to c lean the eye. Without turning the machine off, he reached his hand into it to ad just the eye. The rollers within the frame of the machine caught his hand pullin g it into the machine and crushing it. He sustained injuries to his right hand i n the accident.