Tire Cord and Tire Fabric Mills

NarrativeAt approximately 11:55 a.m., on January 20, 2011 Employee #1 was seriously injured while operating an injection molding press, located in the Molding Dept. of the manufacturing facility. Employee #1 was operating an injection molding press number 27 (model 500-15# 30x30 & serial 0500-109-0697, manufactured by US Molding Machinery Company). The press was equipped with an automatic robotic picker located in the back of the press. The picker and the press unit were running in automatic mode and producing AKA rubber tires (4 in. diameter) on four die-core cavities. Employee #1 heard the picker alarm going "off" indicating that a jam had occurred i.e. a tire was not picked up by the picker. At that time he opened the north side back door (not equipped with a functional interlock switch) and removed the stuck tire from left rear core die with his left hand without any incident. Then he accessed the left rear core area again using the same door to remove a flash (extra rubber piece) with his left hand at which time the press activated grabbing his thumb between the core die and its cavity causing serious crushing injuries of his left thumb and hand. Initially Employee #1 was taken to the Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, CA for treatment. Surgery was performed and Employee #1's left thumb was amputated. Then Employee #1 was transferred to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and was hospitalized for total of 15 days.