The Prince George Citizen reports: "Chipper still moving when worker injured, WorkSafeBC finds"
A Brink Forest Products Ltd. employee who was seriously injured while preparing to change the knife assemblies on a wood waste chipper was carrying out the work while the machine was still moving, according to a WorkSafeBC incident investigation report.
The report, which stems from a November 2014 incident, said the worker was on the day shift but was part of the crew that reported to work earlier in order to change the blades, which is done prior to every shift.
According to evidence deduced by the WorkSafeBC investigator, he turned off the chipper disconnect and entered the chipper room while the machine's disc was still rotating.
To reach the knife assemblies, secured on a 48-inch disc that turns on a shaft supported by external bearings located on both sides of the chipper frame, he removed the two bolts fastening the protective shroud to the machine frame.
"The metal hinge securing the bottom of the shroud to the chipper frame was able to move from side to side about 1.27 centimetres," the report said. "Once the two bolts were removed, the vibration of the chipper caused the shroud to move sideways, enough for the knife assemblies and then the fins to contact the rotating disc. The transfer of energy from the rotating disc to the shroud caused the shroud to open with considerable force and a loud bang [striking and seriously injuring the worker.]"
