Mr.Van worked for a company that fabricated steel and aluminum that sprays a type of coating on the inside of the can to prevent corrosion .The industrial accident he witnessed in his life still makes him shiver and develops goose pimples whenever he remembers the horror he witnessed in the company he once worked. He gave reasons why Safety measures should be religiously observed
Leg wrapped among the moving machine
Van started the story of how a colleague's leg was ''wrapped'' in an industrial machine spinning and rolling. His words ''Listening to muffled sounds below me, I saw my co-worker's leg being wrapped up in coil from a machine that had pulled her in. ''I worked for a company that fabricated steel and aluminum that sprays a type of coating on the inside of the can to prevent corrosion. On this particular day I was a floor line lead responsible for coil that range from five to ten thousand pounds and placed it on a carriage that loaded it onto and Arbor. The Arbor function was to spin the coil and loosen the coil to run through a process of painting ,sealing, and heating, then recoiling it back out''.
He continued ''I was taking twenty one thousand pounds of coil off by utilizing a special forklift, while in the process of lifting the coil up into the air I heard a clicking sound which primarily meant the coil has broken. As I went to jump off the the fork-truck I looked directly in front of the Arbor and saw a human leg ,flipping around on the coil. I immediately got off the fork-truck. Everyone present knew when they heard a certain sound to come to that location. When the Engineer arrived he shutdown the equipment which caused tension in the coils with the employee wrapped up in it. He then reversed the machinery while other employees dialed 911.
''After realizing that the coil did not break and it was one of my female co-worker's leg that was being wrapped around in the coil. The victim went against some safety features trying to check the OD which is how much wax coming from the OD coil process. Instead of her being on the outside as the coil turned counterclockwise to take her test she went around a safety barrier to take her test at the bottom of the equipment when the machinery being extremely hot pulled her glove and snatched her in''.
Rescue at last
''When the Fire department arrived they were trying to figure out how to get her out of being wrapped from the coil. Van stated " the lady was wrapped around in the coil about twenty times. The Fire Department had to cut her out by using the jaws of life which represented something like big scissors or can opener. Once they got her out, no one was allowed to go in that area where she was''.
Van added "after she was freed from the coil they had to put this pin in her head to release pressure, and they had to keep the coil which had skin and teeth in it for insurance purposes. They shut the plant down for a whole day and a half due to investigation of the incident."
Victim had 15 surgeries
Asked what happened to the lady after the accident, Van said ''she had fifteen surgeries, she ended up alright but not 100% like she was."
Safety measures
The company had taken measures to put more safety locks in place to prevent this from happening again.
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