Paper Stacking Machine Injury
A worker had her hand badly burned and crushed on a paper stacking machine in New York State. This consultant was retained as an expert for the plaintiff injured worker. The machine stacked paper squares and applied heated glue to one side to make a 4" cube of note paper. One of the stacks of paper that was being assembled got caught. When she reached in to remove it, her hand was swept into the hot operating parts by the mechanism. This consultant measured the arrangement of the equipment and the process requirements and assessed that there were no hand guards to prevent automatic operation if body parts were in the way. It was demonstrated that this worker, who was a "Temp" employee, was put on a machine that was improperly guarded according to the existing laws at the time of the manufacture of the machine. She was new, inexperienced, poorly trained, inadequately supervised, and expected to operate an unlawfully constructed machine, and thus not at fault.
To see the resume of the expert associated with this case study, see the link below.