Real Life Incident: Fingers Crushed By Heavy Equipment

An engineer and a helper needed to inspect the spare impeller blade assembly for the inert gas generator. This spare was kept in a plywood box, and was underneath a spare flame shield, which was quite heavy. With no further planning, the crew attempted to lift the heavy flame shield off the impeller box by hand. Both crew were wearing cotton gloves for the task.

The plywood cover of the impeller box was only loosely installed. While shifting the flame shield, the loose plywood cover also moved, and one corner of the cover slid and fell inside the box. The flame shield was too heavy for the crew to support the weight, and the engineer’s right index and middle finger were trapped between the flame shield and the wooden box. The victim received a deep cut on the index finger and a swollen middle finger.

Lessons learned

Before carrying out any job, carry out an informal risk assessment which involves inspecting the job and the surrounding area. Ask yourself, what are the hazards?
Whenever handling a heavy object, evaluate whether lifting appliances can be employed or alternate methods used to lift or handle the object. Use common sense before brute strength!
Alternatively, if space constraints prevent the use of lifting appliances, it is crucial to ensure an adequate number of crew members are available for the task. l Never put your hands below a heavy object or take a position which might lead to a crush injury.
Use appropriate PPE. Debatably, leather gloves would have been more appropriate for this task and would have probably reduced the severity of the injuries. Yet, no injuries would have been sustained had the above lessons been applied prior to working.

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