Upper arm fracture on a dough dividing machine

The bakery employee wanted to clear a fault in a dough dividing machine. For this purpose, she entered the narrow area (about 50 cm wide) behind the machine to open the lateral covering (gate). Whilst the employee, in bent position, was working within the machine, a colleague actuated the ON-switch on the machine´s front side. Obviously, he had noticed neither the malfunction nor his colleague behind the machine. The woman was hit by machine parts and suffered an upper arm fracture.

Accident cause

The position switch of the guard was no longer fitted. This was the reason why the machine could start with the guard (lateral gate) being open. Furthermore, the employees were not trained in fault finding/clearance and guard checking.