Operator Pulled into Tinning Line

A machine operator died of crush injuries to his head when caught by an ingoing pinchpoint on a hot tin coating machine.

The victim and some other operators had been taking shortcuts when cleaning the steel rollers. Standard procedure required first stopping the tinning line and putting it into lockout mode. Operators were then supposed to scrub the rollers with a long-handled wire brush, and rotate rollers only by pushing a “jog” button. Instead, the victim was wiping a bridle roller with sandpaper while the line was running at 50 feet (15 meters) per minute. The bridle roller tensioned metal strips that came down the line to be coated. An incoming six-inch (15-centimeter) wide brass strip apparently caught his glove and he was pulled into the line and jammed and crushed by the roller and the brass strip. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Always follow standard procedures for lockout and cleaning machinery. The habit can save your life.