A California woman recently lost her life in a workplace accident when her clothing became stuck in a machine. The woman was working at the Del Ray packing plant when the fatal accident occurred. She was employed as a contract employee for the plant for two years before her death.
The woman was working near a machine that breaks apart bunches of raisins, when a piece of her clothing became entangled in the machinery. Two employees who were working nearby shut down the machine, but she hit her head before it came to a stop. The woman died at the accident scene from the blow to her head.
Manufacturing and processing jobs are not the most dangerous jobs out there, but they are not without risk. One of the biggest dangers to employees working in manufacturing and processing facilities is the equipment they use to manufacture or process the goods that their employer produces. One of the most common types of workplace accidents at manufacturing and processing facilities is the caught-in-machinery accident. This type of accident can severely injure or kill workers, even if other employees working nearby see the accident happen and rush to turn off the machine. Many caught-in-machinery accidents happen when workers are not actively using a machine. Workers who service machinery are at work of being caught in it if the machine turns on while they are working on it.
Unfortunately, manufacturing and processing facilities are not the only workplaces where caught-in-machinery accidents happen. Landscape and logging companies, as well as utility companies, use tree chipping and debarking machines that can quickly amputate limbs or otherwise severely injure or kill people who accidentally become entangled in them. Agricultural workers also face the risk of being caught in many types of farm machinery at work. From balers and combines to the power take-off (PTO) units and driveshafts used to transfer power from tractors to farming implements, many moving parts can entangle workers, causing severe injury or death. The mining, construction, scrap metal, and recycling industries also involve machinery that workers can become caught in.
The ways that caught-in-machinery accidents can occur are varied. Some accidents happen when clothing or hair becomes entangled in the machinery, as happened to the woman who recently died at the raisin processing facility. Others become caught in a machine when they try to service it while it is running. Sometimes, a worker turns a machine off to repair it and then is injured or killed when another worker turns the machine on while they are servicing it. Other workers become entangled in machinery when they try to reach over or across it. Some caught-in-machinery accidents happen when workers fall into machines.
Prevention of caught-in-machinery accidents involves active participation by employers and employees to make safe operation procedures known and ensure that they are followed. Machines should be operated with safety guards in place. Workers who service machinery must be trained in the safe and proper procedures for doing so. These procedures may involve lockout/tag-out procedures and other safeguards against accidental activation of the machinery during service, and they must follow them to ensure their safety and the safety of others.
If you were injured in a caught-in-machinery accident, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (800) 707-9577.