Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Massachusetts: A Cooperative Placement 11th Grade Student was Injured While Operating a Jointer in a Millwork Shop

摘要

During the summer of 2008, a student enrolled in a Massachusetts Chapter 74 approved vocational technical education mill/carpentry program was injured while participating in a Cooperative Work Experience project (Co-op). The student's Co-op was with a millwork company starting during the school's third trimester and was scheduled to continue into the summer school break. At the time of the incident, the student was operating a jointer and was injured when the student's gloved left hand came in contact with the machine's cutting head. Co-workers attended to the injured student, and one co-worker transported the student to a local hospital. The student was then transported to a larger hospital in a neighboring state where the student's left hand ring finger was amputated at the middle knuckle. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health concluded that to prevent similar occurrences in the future, employers and schools with mill/carpentry shops should: (1) Ensure that gloves are never worn while operating woodworking machinery; (2) Develop, implement, and enforce standard operating procedures for operating machinery; (3) Provide adequate supervision for young workers, new employees and other inexperienced workers; and (4) Develop procedures, including calling 911, to be followed during emergency medical situations to ensure appropriate and prompt treatment. Employers and Job Placement Coordinators should: (5) Ensure that Cooperative Education Agreements always include the knowledge and skills to be acquired by the students while at their cooperative work placements. School Cooperative Education or Job Placement Coordinators should: (6) Routinely visit companies and work sites to which students have been assigned; and (7) Routinely meet with students to discuss their work experience including tasks they have been performing during their Cooperative Work Experience project.