Why You Should Report On The Job Injuries and Accidents

The following is a true story about why reporting a workplace accident or injury is very important. The names of the individuals have been changed but what you are about to read really happened.

In April Javier Mendoza was promoted to the position of planer operator in a window factory near Nashville Tennessee. Previously he had been a forklift operator and the chance to do mill work meant another three dollars per hour.

Each planer, which smoothed down rough wood before it was sent on to be cut to the proper size for use in high-end windows, featured a counter. Planer operators were paid by the hour but occasionally a manager would check the counter to see how many pieces had been processed that day. It was no secret that he wanted each planer operator to finish as many pieces as possible and those with the highest count got bonuses.

Javier soon got the art of feeding boards into the planer down to a fine art. His counter was two our three hundred pieces higher at the end of the day and he was soon earning bonuses every week. He discovered that by bending a small piece of metal that guarded the entrance to the planer, he could feed in several more boards an hour.

This minor modification to the planer was known about by everyone who worked the machines. Every single machine had it's guard bent out of the way.

July second was just like any other day at the factory. After having returned from break Javier was feeding boards into the planer as usual, and thinking about his son's soccer game.

What happened next could have been very bad for Javier. A rough board he was feeding snagged the sleeve of his jacket and as the gears of the planer caught the board and pulled it in it also pulled Javier toward the rotating teeth behind the guard.

Javier reacted quickly and prevented what could have been a tragic workplace accident. He pulled backward with all his might and the jacked ripped off of him and disappeared inside the planer.

He was too embarrased to tell anyone. The incident would have counted as an accident and the line would have to have been shut down until it was investigated. Because Javier was new and also because he did not want to be seen as foolish, he told nobody and resumed his work.

Three Months Later

Three months later a new employee was promoted to work on a planer similar to the one Javier had had the accident with. It was cold that morning and Tom Cage had worn his heavy denim jacket into the plant.

The same thing that had occurred to Javier happened to Tom, only this time he was unable to rip away his heavy jacket. His arm was pulled inside the planer and cut off at the shoulder.

First responders stopped the bleeding and Tom lived but doctors were unable to reattach his arm since it was too badly damaged.

The lesson from this true story is that if you have a workplace accident, no matter how small, it needs to be reported so that whatever caused the accident could be fixed.

In this case a $5.00 piece of steel that could have been replaced cost a man his arm.

If you have a workplace accident or injury report it to your supervisor as soon as possible. If your supervisor refuses to act contact your local OSHA office.