Walker Magnetics: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Dec 10, 2019: Employee using shear suffers partial amputation of fingertip

At 7:20 a.m. on December 10, 2019, an employee was working as an assembler for a firm that designed and manufactured magnets for scrap metal processing operations. He was working in the firm's fabrication area. He was cutting small pieces of fiberglass insulation board on a Lodge & Shipley model 0408 straight shear. The employee was pushing the material toward the blade, when his finger went under the guard for one of the hold-downs. The shear cycled, and his finger was caught under the hold-down. When he tried to pull his hand free, the tip of his finger was partially amputated. He was treated without hospitalization. The barrier guard on the shear allowed access to both the hold-downs and the point of operation. The guard provided on the first hold-down was raised high enough to allow fingers to pass underneath and into the path of the hold-down. Sight openings provided in the guard were large enough to reach through to the shear point. In at least one area, vertical members in the guard were bent, creating a space that could be reached through to the shear point.