Costume Jewelry and Novelty Manufacturing

NarrativeAt 7:40 a.m. on October 22, 2012, a worker was employed by Accountabilities, an employment agency in Chino, CA. He had been sent by that firm, his primary employer, to work at Western Badge & Trophy Company, his secondary employer, in Monterey Park, CA. Western Badge & Trophy Company manufactured buttons, badges, magnets, trophies, and promotional advertising materials. The employee and a coworker, who was a witness to the incident, were working together on a pneumatic, dual-operator button-capping machine when the incident happened. The narrative did not make clear whether, by saying that the employee and his coworker were "working together" on the machine, they were using the machine in a production capacity or performing maintenance on it. The coworker was operating a handle that moved dies in a semicircular path. This movement allowed a ram in the center of the machine to press the backing of the buttons together with a piece of paper that went on top of the button and a safety pin that went on the back of the button. The worker put his fingers on the paper, which was on top of the button backing. Both of these were on a moving die, which was approaching the ram. Two fingers on the employee's right hand were pulled under the guard on the left side of the machine and then crushed by the ram. He lost part of the middle finger and required stitches in the ring finger. He was transported to Garfield Hospital, where he received treatment for the amputated finger and for the lacerated finger. The incident was reported to DOSH by the primary employer (Accountability) at 3:22 p.m. on October 22, 2012, about 8 hours after the incident. It was reported to DOSH by the secondary employer (WBT Industries) at 4:54 p.m. on October 22, 2012, about 9 hours after the incident. General citations issued to the secondary employer were: 3314(g)(2)(A) - Failure to develop equipment-specific LO/TO procedures for 18 machines. Serious citations being issued to the secondary employer were: 3314(j) - Failure to train affected employees on LO/TO. 4186(b) - Failure to adequately guard 18 button-capping machines.