Ugh! What a night! One of our maintenance personnel had his arm broken in 3 places tonight at work. A dept. foreman was attempting to repair a piece of equipment that utilizes small scoops on a conveyor system to carry steel shot into a shot-peening operation. The foreman walked away for a few minutes to deal with another situation on the other side of his department. He returned to the broken machine and turned it on in order to see if his repairs worked. I was about 100' away when I heard one of those screams that sends chills up the spine. Unknown to anyone at the time, Matt the maintenance man, arrived at the machine while the foreman was away. Matt had his arm inside the conveyor in the rear of the machine when the foreman started it. His arm was grabbed by one of the scoops and it was drug up and around a sprocket. I took off in a sprint when I heard the scream. The foreman had the machine stopped, but Matts arm was still in it. The foreman was frantic, as there is no reverse on the conveyor, and Matt was going into shock. Luckily, I know enough about 3-phase electric that I was able to switch a couple of wires and run the conveyor in reverse. We got his arm dislodged from the conveyor, but geez, it looked like a pretzel. Big time bummer! No blood and no bones protruding through the skin, but both bones were broken in 3 places. He was still in surgery when I left for home, but the Dr. said that several plates and a bucket of screws would be needed to repair it. It could have been worse though, he could have lost the arm very easily. What makes it even more unfortunate is that it could have very easily been prevented. We have safety procedures in place to keep this from happening. It doesn't work though if you don't follow it. The machine should have been locked out, and it wasn't. So, to all those out there that work in factories or with dangerous equipment.. BE CAREFUL...SAFETY FIRST!!!!!!!
Dang it! Dang it!! Broken arm at work tonight
by SeymourButts 8 Replies latest jw friends
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FlyingHighNow
Yikes! I broke my lower leg in three places on two bones once. It was so painful, I screamed even in my sleep for a week. I can't imagine the pain this man felt, trapped in that machine. You're right, he is lucky. There was a guy who got his shirt caught in a dye at the Kirby Vacuum cleaner plant. The pins that hold the dye together caught his shirt and the dye closed on his arm. Then molten aluminum was poured in on his arm. He lost his arm, but came back to work later with a prosthesis with a claw.
I bet you're just sick over this still. Did you have symapthy pain?
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Double Edge
sorry man...
Luckily, I know enough about 3-phase electric that I was able to switch a couple of wires and run the conveyor in reverse.
Good for you...thank God you were around.... here wishing you and Matt a better tomorrow !
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JV
Did they have the machine locked out?
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Scully
oh my, how horrible for everyone ... please keep us informed of how he's doing.
Will Matt need some financial assistance while he is recuperating? or is there a workers compensation program for on the job injuries? Is his job protected? Does he have a family?
as an aside: I have heard horror stories of people - JWs actually - who knew they were about to be laid off from a factory injuring themselves in machinery like that so they could collect Worker's Compensation and Pioneer™ rather than go look for a new job.
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SeymourButts
I bet you're just sick over this still. Did you have symapthy pain? Most definitely! I had a similar incident about 5 years ago when my arm was crushed and very close to amputation. So yes,...it brought back all of the memories of my own incident. I genuinely feel for him. The sound of breaking bones never goes away. Did they have the machine locked out? No, they didn't. It would have been so easy to prevent this accident. Right after it happened I called the safety director and had him come in. We reviewed what happened and why. Tomorrow, everyone is going to get a serious lecture on safety procedures. We immediately, with approval of the president, instituted a new policy. Anyone caught performing repairs on a piece of equipment that has not been locked out will immediately receive time off with no pay. Will Matt need some financial assistance while he is recuperating? or is there a workers compensation program for on the job injuries? Is his job protected? Does he have a family? We are self insured and treat the employees pretty well. Since it happened at work, and he is a skilled trade, he will receive his regular pay while he is off. As soon as he is able to come back to work, we have a program for those on light duty. He can work in the office until he is able to return to full duty. His job will still be there for him. He may get a good ass-chewing and a possible write-up for not following procedure but he won't lose his job. Speaking of family, the foreman that was operating the machine was Matts uncle. I spent a couple hours with the foreman trying to console him. He was really torn-up over it, blaming himself. It really hurt to see how upset he was. I hope my words helped at least a little.
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luna2
Wow...very traumatic! Its fortunate that you were there to get that machine to reverse. Hope Matt recovers as quickly as possible.
I'll bet that any employees present won't forget proper safety measures again...nothing like have a graphic example of what could happen to drive the point home.
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jgnat
I hear the safest men working on the Empire State Building were the ones missing a finger or two. I'd put this young man in charge of shop safety when he gets back.
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Cygnus
I have never broken a bone anywhere on my body, except when the surgeon broke my breastbone in two to get at my heart. It's really amazing that in 15 years of chimney work and scaffold setup, teardown and working on it 30-50 feet in the air, plus scaling dangerous roofs nearly every day I never had a serious injury. I only fell twice, and only from 10 feet and walked away with my butt and ego bruised but that's it.
I hope your co-worker regains the use of his arm (don't I know how limited use of arms is like), and worker's comp comes through big time for him.