Incident date: 2024-08-14
NAICS industry code: 332410

An employee was assembling a 12-foot long 30-inch shell and tube heat exchanger. The pieces are put together horizontally, and the two flanges were being placed on the ends using a 1.5-ton come-along on each side. The flange was too large to fit into the shell, so the shell was heated to expand it. A lug that the come-along was attached to then broke, causing the hook of the come-along to fly off and strike the employee s left index finger while it was resting on a sawhorse. The middle phalanx of the index finger suffered a displaced/open fracture and required surgical amputation.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Struck by dislodged or detached object(s)
code_source: title: Drums, pulleys, sheaves
code_nature: title: Amputations involving bone loss
code_body: title: Other finger(s)  n.e.c.
severity: high