Incident date: 2015-02-20
NAICS industry code: 311511

On February 20, 2015, at approximately 6:30 a.m., a maintenance employee was using a 12-inch pedestal grinder to grind spurs off a small piece of metal he was holding in his hand at a 45-degree angle. The end of the piece of metal got caught between the grinding wheel and the work rest, causing the piece part to become lodged in a fixed vertical position against the grinding wheel and catching the employee's left thumb between the piece part and the grinding wheel.  The employee was treated in the emergency room immediately following the accident with a fractured and lacerated thumb. Upon subsequent referral to a hand surgeon, the diagnosis was expanded to include partial amputation of the thumb.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation
code_source: title: Grinders, abraders
code_nature: title: Amputations
code_body: title: Finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c.
severity: high