Parallel33 Lumber Corp.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Nov 8, 2021: Employee amputates fingertip in belt conveyor

At 4:00 p.m. on November 8, 2021, an employee was working as a sorter in a lumber mill when a wood splinter got jammed in the plastic bridge between belt conveyors. Wood was unloaded from trucks and placed on a belt conveyor that transported it up to the work platform. The wood on the belt conveyor transitioned to a second belt conveyor over a plastic bridge that covered the gap between the two belt conveyors. The wood traveled to the end of the second belt conveyor where it piled up onto a third belt conveyor aligned 90 degrees from the second belt conveyor. The sorters were located at the side of the belt conveyor and were tasked with removing bad lumber and throwing it over the conveyor into a chute to an area below the platform. The sorters aligned the acceptable lumber on the belt conveyor so that it would go through the automated laser scanning equipment. There was an expanded metal cage around the conveyor belt at the 90 degree transition which trapped the wood and prevented it from leaving the conveyor belt where wood would jam. Employees were instructed to use a pole to clear the jam. If the jam could not be cleared with a pole, then the line was to be locked out so that the jam could be cleared. At times, small pieces of wood or splinters would jam into the bridge. There was no guard around the bridge. A splinter jammed into the bridge and the employee reached over to remove it when his finger was caught between the bridge and belt conveyor. The employee suffered a fingertip amputation and was treated without hospitalization.

Incident on Apr 7, 2021: Employee's glove is caught in conveyor, resulting in fingert

At 4:00 p.m. on April 7, 2021, Employee #1 was reaching for a wood scrap piece wedged between the belt conveyor and a plastic block used to bridge the upper conveyor to the lower conveyor. As the conveyor started up, the employee's glove became caught, pulling the fingers into the space between the belt conveyor and the plastic block. Employee #1 sustained a fingertip amputation and was treated without hospitalization.

Incident on Dec 22, 2020: Employee sustains fingertip amputation and broken finger whi

At 7:00 a.m. on December 22, 2020, an employee working at the first station on the Block Sort line experienced an incident while clearing a jammed piece of wood. The employee, who had been trained on procedures for handling jams using a pole, reached to remove a board that had become lodged in the transition space between the third and fourth conveyors, specifically in a gap in the frame above the third conveyor. As the employee attempted to clear the obstruction, the wood shifted, and the employee's glove was pulled into the jammed board. This resulted in the employee's hand being caught between the board and the metal frame. Emergency responders had to cut the frame around the conveyor to free the employee's hand. The employee sustained a fingertip amputation and a broken finger. The employee was treated without hospitalization.