Amputations

An employee was on a platform for a bottle filler. Next to the platform was a lift table used to lift pallets of bottle crown boxes; as the boxes were pulled from the pallet, the table raised the pallet. Between the platform and the lift table was a guardrail with sheet metal covering one side, acting as a backstop for the pallets. The employee was raising the platform to access a new box of crowns. A piece of wood from the pallet had become stuck under the guardrail, causing it to rise with the platform. The wood snapped. The guardrail fell back into place and pinched the employee s left middle finger against a bracket, causing a fracture and an amputation to the fingertip.