On Monday, September 25th 2017 OSHA reps took a report of a serious accident in San Leandro, CA after learning of an incident at Ghirardelli Chocolate Company which had occured on Monday, September 18th 2017. A 53 year old Operations & systems researcher had been injured when the
Accident Date2017-09-18
Accident DegreeHospitalized injury
NarrativeAt 2:30 p.m. on September 18, 2017, an employee was cleaning the roller of the conveyor of the Hamburg Chip Machine for a product changeover. The employee was wearing gloves and got underneath the conveyor to clean the roller with a towel. The employee entered a 22 inch high opening to access the rollers. At this time, the machine was turned off. The employee had finish cleaning part of the roller and with her left hand reached to the power button to rotate the roller and the employee's knee hit the ground and as she reacted her right hand hit the roller which grasped the towel and pulled the employee's right hand into the roller. She was able to reach the power to turn it off and scream for help. The employee did not de-energize the machine. No guard was in front of the rollers. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured right arm.