Laborer Falls Onto Conveyor

A laborer working as a helper on a bark boiler in a paper mill was trying to unjam a blockage on a conveyor. The jam was preventing bark from moving into the boiler to be used as fuel. The worker apparently slipped and fell, and was caught in the head sprocket of the conveyor. He had been working alone, and co-workers came looking for him when he failed to answer his radio phone. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital. Cause of death was multiple amputations and fractures.

Machine guarding was not provided on the conveyor to prevent employee contact with the sprocket and other rotating parts. When co-workers were trying to rescue the victim, there was no convenient means of stopping the machinery at the loading point. This tragic incident could also have been related to fatigue, because the victim was on a double shift and in his 11th hour of work when he was killed.