NOTE: OSHA would allow the “minor servicing exception” in this scenario, although the UK HSE does not.
A tissue manufacturing company has been fined after an employee, 24, was seriously injured while clearing a machine blockage at its factory.
During the manufacturing process, a tissue blockage occurred in the rollers of the machine, and the worker instructed his colleague to ‘jog’ the machine while he cleared the paper by hand.
Jogging – also known as inching – refers to the momentary energization of a motor to move it in small, precise increments, only while the operator holds down a button.
However, as his colleague did this, the worker’s right hand became trapped in the roller. Although he managed to pull his hand out of the machine, he had sustained crushing injuries to it.