Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Hydraulic Press
What happened: A man was injured while feeding parts into a hydraulic brake press when his coworker accidentally cycled the machine
Injuries: Crushing injuries to hand
Recommendations: A typical one-person operation was being performed by two people in an attempt to speed up production. This is a foreseeable scenario that machine designers and facilities need to mitigate. The two-handed control station did not offer the worker protection since his coworker was manning the controls. There are various solutions to this type of machine guarding scenario. For this machine the operator places material into the press, and then cycles the press. A simple light curtain could have detected the presence of the worker and prevented the press from cycling when the coworker engaged it. Alternatively, guarding by distance could have prevented this accident, as could have barrier guards with openings to allow the work product to pass.
OSHA/Standard violations?: Yes
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Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Golf Cart Overturn
Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Golf cart
What happened: A man was injured when the golf cart he was driving rolled as he attempted to negotiate a turn. He was thrown from the cart and injured when he impacted the ground and when the cart landed on top of him
Injuries: Broken leg, head injuries
Recommendations: Golf carts are capable of traveling at speeds that can result in injury to people. Tipping of golf carts, and vehicles, is a foreseeable event whether due to uneven terrain, terrain defects, wet conditions, etc. Protecting the operator is imperative in these accidents. Operator and passenger protection can be afforded using seatbelts and doors to contain the occupants.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Product involved: Golf cart
What happened: A man was injured when the golf cart he was driving rolled as he attempted to negotiate a turn. He was thrown from the cart and injured when he impacted the ground and when the cart landed on top of him
Injuries: Broken leg, head injuries
Recommendations: Golf carts are capable of traveling at speeds that can result in injury to people. Tipping of golf carts, and vehicles, is a foreseeable event whether due to uneven terrain, terrain defects, wet conditions, etc. Protecting the operator is imperative in these accidents. Operator and passenger protection can be afforded using seatbelts and doors to contain the occupants.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Automatically Closing Handicap Access Door
Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Handicap access door
What happened: An elderly woman was injured when an automatic handicap access door closed on her, causing injury to her wrist as well as causing her to fall to the ground
Injuries: Wrist, broken hip
Recommendations: Automatically closing handicap access doors need to be equipped with sensors that stop and/or reverse the motion of the door when an obstacle is encountered. The Americans with Disabilities Act has certain requirements that must be met. Other standards may also apply, and engineering design protocol requires a safeguard for this clearly identified hazard. Minimizing power to the door to perform its function properly would help minimize the severity of injuries resulting from contact with a closing door. Touch sensors, motion sensors, pressure sensitive mats, and light beam sensors could all be used to determine if a person was in the path of the closing door(s).
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Product involved: Handicap access door
What happened: An elderly woman was injured when an automatic handicap access door closed on her, causing injury to her wrist as well as causing her to fall to the ground
Injuries: Wrist, broken hip
Recommendations: Automatically closing handicap access doors need to be equipped with sensors that stop and/or reverse the motion of the door when an obstacle is encountered. The Americans with Disabilities Act has certain requirements that must be met. Other standards may also apply, and engineering design protocol requires a safeguard for this clearly identified hazard. Minimizing power to the door to perform its function properly would help minimize the severity of injuries resulting from contact with a closing door. Touch sensors, motion sensors, pressure sensitive mats, and light beam sensors could all be used to determine if a person was in the path of the closing door(s).
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Ottoman Failure Resulting in Injuries
Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Ottoman
What happened: A woman sitting on an ottoman fell and received injuries when the ottoman she was seated on collapsed due to a catastrophic failure of the connection of one of the legs.
Injuries: Unknown
Recommendations: It is unknown at this time whether the failure was due to a design defect or a manufacturing/material defect. Engineering calculations or finite element analysis (FEA) should have been used to ensure that the ottoman is adequately designed by the manufacturer. Using engineering design principles as well as industry standards, with an adequate factor of safety to accommodate dynamic loading that occurs when a person drops down into the seat/ottoman; the ottoman could have been designed to safely support its occupants. Adequate quality control procedures would likely have caught any material or manufacturing defect.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Product involved: Ottoman
What happened: A woman sitting on an ottoman fell and received injuries when the ottoman she was seated on collapsed due to a catastrophic failure of the connection of one of the legs.
Injuries: Unknown
Recommendations: It is unknown at this time whether the failure was due to a design defect or a manufacturing/material defect. Engineering calculations or finite element analysis (FEA) should have been used to ensure that the ottoman is adequately designed by the manufacturer. Using engineering design principles as well as industry standards, with an adequate factor of safety to accommodate dynamic loading that occurs when a person drops down into the seat/ottoman; the ottoman could have been designed to safely support its occupants. Adequate quality control procedures would likely have caught any material or manufacturing defect.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Shuttle Bus Luggage Rack Accident
Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Shuttle bus luggage rack
What happened: A person riding an airport shuttle bus received head injuries when a large suitcase tipped out of the luggage rack and fell onto his head.
Injuries: Minor head injuries
Recommendations: Ensuring that luggage is properly secured is important to prevent accidents from moving luggage, especially when contact with a person is possible or probable. A properly designed luggage rack would utilize full coverage guarding in directions that would likely result in contact with occupants, or a door or gate access. Another alternative is placing support bars high enough to prevent luggage from tipping over the bar during hard braking or acceleration.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Product involved: Shuttle bus luggage rack
What happened: A person riding an airport shuttle bus received head injuries when a large suitcase tipped out of the luggage rack and fell onto his head.
Injuries: Minor head injuries
Recommendations: Ensuring that luggage is properly secured is important to prevent accidents from moving luggage, especially when contact with a person is possible or probable. A properly designed luggage rack would utilize full coverage guarding in directions that would likely result in contact with occupants, or a door or gate access. Another alternative is placing support bars high enough to prevent luggage from tipping over the bar during hard braking or acceleration.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Paintball Eye Injury
Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Paintball marker
What happened: A child spectating a paintball game was hit in the eye.
Injuries: Partial blindness
Recommendations: Paintball games require proper eye protection to ensure participant safety. Referees are also required to enforce safety rules and to stop game play if a hazardous situation occurs. This particular injury was to a non-participant. Spectator viewing areas must be properly safeguarded so onlookers are protected from the paintballs. Doors and passageways are a common weakness at paintball fields. Overlapped netting can protect onlookers and ensure paintballs do not leave the playing field.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Product involved: Paintball marker
What happened: A child spectating a paintball game was hit in the eye.
Injuries: Partial blindness
Recommendations: Paintball games require proper eye protection to ensure participant safety. Referees are also required to enforce safety rules and to stop game play if a hazardous situation occurs. This particular injury was to a non-participant. Spectator viewing areas must be properly safeguarded so onlookers are protected from the paintballs. Doors and passageways are a common weakness at paintball fields. Overlapped netting can protect onlookers and ensure paintballs do not leave the playing field.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tricam Fiberglass Ladder Spreader Bar Failure
Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) Product Failure Injury Report
Product involved: Tricam Fiberglass Ladder
What happened: A person was injured when a spreader bar of his Tricam ladder failed, causing the ladder to collapse
Injuries: Unknown
Recommendations: Stepladder spreader bar failure is not as common as other ladder accident failure modes. Without spreader bars, a stepladder is highly unstable and likely to collapse or tip. Normally spreader bar failures are due to a manufacturing or material defect, but can also be due to a design problem as well. A rigid plate spreader would have prevented the extreme instability resulting from the failure of one spreader bar connection.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
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Product involved: Tricam Fiberglass Ladder
What happened: A person was injured when a spreader bar of his Tricam ladder failed, causing the ladder to collapse
Injuries: Unknown
Recommendations: Stepladder spreader bar failure is not as common as other ladder accident failure modes. Without spreader bars, a stepladder is highly unstable and likely to collapse or tip. Normally spreader bar failures are due to a manufacturing or material defect, but can also be due to a design problem as well. A rigid plate spreader would have prevented the extreme instability resulting from the failure of one spreader bar connection.
OSHA/Standard violations?: No
Visit www.mase.pro for more information on unsafe products
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