OSHA investigators arrived in Santa Fe Springs, CA on Friday, September 15th 2017 and began an accident investigation which had occured previously at California Box Company. A 49 year old Laborer had been injured when the employee's finger was amputated when caught in a stacking mac
Accident Date2017-09-01
Accident DegreeNon Hospitalized injury
NarrativeAt 7:45 a.m. on September 1, 2017, an employee was working at a manufacturing company specializing in custom packaging and corrugated cardboard boxes. The employee regularly cleaned around the facility and observed how to operate the Apstar Stacking Machine. The Apstar Stacking Machine, stacks finished cardboard into set qualities that are later packaged and shipped to the customer. The machine is automatic and has a sensor to identify when the desired quantity has been reached. When the cardboard stack reaches an appropriate height, a bar that holds the stack of cardboard is retracted and the stack of cardboard falls onto a conveyor and then is palletized and shipped. The employee noticed what he thought was the cardboard being stacked improperly by the machine. The employee leaned into the machine and placed his hand under a stack of cardboard. As the employee leaned in, his head passed through the sensor which triggered the bar holding the cardboard stack to retract. The tip of the employee's right ring finger was amputated.