How to keep your safety committee from going off kilter BY Gary A. Higbee, Canadian Occupational Safety
Suddenly, I saw the man thrust his hand into the machine to pull out a bag that had jammed. He was actually timing his reach between the rapid sweeping motions of the blade.
I have to admit I was shocked. I approached the worker and explained that he could easily lose his hand if he made even the smallest error in timing. 'I'm very fast and coordinated,' he said, and didn't seem to understand the danger he was in. He said the only alternative would be to turn the machine off, and that would mean a long re-start process and 20 to 30 scrapped bags.
I asked who had taught him to remove bags that way. He answered, 'Fred, the set-up man.'
So I set out to find Fred. When I found him, guess what? Fred had no right hand. He had lost it in the machine next to the one I had just observed.