Incident date: 2019-07-17
NAICS industry code: 322110

An employee was changing a die inside the pellet mill of a press. The employee was using a torque wrench to tighten the inner bolts, applying pressure in a downward motion, when the wrench either gave way, or reached the desired amount of torque and completed its designed function to break loose. The employee's right thumb was caught between the wrench handle and a piece of adjacent equipment (the aspiration line) resulting in an amputation to the right thumb.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker
code_source: title: Wrenches-power not determined
code_nature: title: Amputations
code_body: title: Finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified
severity: high