Incident date: 2019-10-09
NAICS industry code: 541850

A temporary employee was moving a pallet containing four steel molds using a sit-down forklift. When the employee lifted the forks on the forklift, the pallet broke apart causing two molds to fall on the floor. The employee retrieved a new pallet to replace the broken pallet. He then attempted to pull and slide over one of the remaining molds on the broken pallet onto the new pallet, which he had placed alongside the forks. The steel mold was approximately 500 lbs., and when he slid it to the pallet edge, the pallet once again broke apart. This caused the mold to come crashing down onto the employee's left hand, resulting in a left middle fingertip amputation.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c.
code_source: title: Dies, molds, patterns
code_nature: title: Amputations
code_body: title: Fingertip(s)
severity: high