Protect Controls, Inc.: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Nov 15, 2019: Employee's hand and fingers are crushed in press brake

At 12:20 p.m. on November 15, 2019, an employee was working for a temporary staffing employment agency. He had been assigned to work at a firm that manufactured prefabricated metal buildings and components. A machine operator was running an HTC press brake machine, with serial number 582G2432. The employee was helping the machine operator. They were bending roof caps. The employee was standing on the left side of the machine. He had placed his right hand under the die, when the operator depressed the machine's foot pedal to bend the piece that was in place. The die came down on the employee's hand, crushing it. He suffered injuries to his fingers. Other workers came to his assistance, and he was sent to a regional hospital. He was hospitalized for recovery. The press brake was used daily to bend different sizes of metal for the construction of metal power control buildings. Through later interviews conducted with employees and management, it was established that about 50 to 400 pieces were bent each day on the machine. The machine's light curtains had been inoperable for the previous week. To make roof caps required two to five bends per piece. The light curtain could manage only one bend. Additional bends blocked the curtain, stopping the machine. Because of this, the lights were turned off at the time. For positioning themselves, workers had a grab bar above the die. They would keep one hand on the bar and the other on the material. If the material was too heavy or too long, they would keep both hands on the material. The die was 3 in. wide and 3 in. long (76 mm wide and 76 mm long). The part of the die that came down on the employee's hand was 0.5 in. (13 mm) thick. The point of operation was 3 feet and 3 in. (1.0 meter) from the ground. The total length of machine was 16 feet (4.9 meters) long. The piece that was being bent was 44 in. long (1.12 meters) long and 2.5 in. (64 mm) wide. Measurements were taken using a measuring tape and a laser distance meter.