Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Wood Chipper Accident

Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report

Product involved: Wood Chipper
What happened: A worker became pulled into a wood chipper when the bundle of branches he was feeding into the chipper trapped his hand
Injuries: Amputation
Recommendations: Wood chippers are extremely powerful machines that have an entanglement hazard between the powered rollers that pull material into the chipper.  These machines should be guarded with as much care and attention to detail as large printing presses.  The operator should never be able to reach the point of operation of the chipper.  Equipping the chipper with an effective body bar that stopped the machine would have prevented this accident, as would have a deadman platform that the operator would work from that would stop the chipper when it sensed the lack of a person.

OSHA/Standard violations?: no

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