accident in plant, question about a tool

[comedyman809]

one of our facilities had an accident, and im trying to nail down exactly what they mean by "port a pak"


here is the email i received...

A Incident Report has been filed at the Syracuse plant and is being distributed for your notification only. You will receive additional notification when the investigation of this incident is complete.

PLANT LOCATION: Syracuse
DATE OF INCIDENT: 10/02/2010
INCIDENT SUMMARY: RECORDABLE INJURY -- Restricted Duty
INCIDENT LOCATION: Finishing Feed End
JOB TASK: Maintenance
DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT: Struck By
DETAILS: Employee was doing repair work on the Feed Section of the 303 Langston Flexo. The work involved the removal of a double sprocket that opens and closes the machine sections. The sprocket needed to be removed to replace the bushing in the machine side frame which was worn. As employee was attempting to remove sprocket with a hydraulic porta-pak the jaws/ arm on the attachment snapped. With the hydraulic porta-pak under pressure and the jaws positioned between the sprocket and machine side frame, the unit released and struck employee on his right forearm.


sounds like a hydraulic puller to me, any thoughts or ideas what exactly is a "porta pak".

i have never heard anyone refer to a puller as a " porta pak"

 

[mrholeshot]

A porta pack is a portable power supply. they may have it confused with a porta power

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Here you go:

http://www.gunbus.co.uk/hydraulic-porta-pack-i209.html

 

[Bolster]

Yeah, must be a sort of porta power.

 

[comedyman809]

thats what i thought.

with a puller attachment on the end. the description of the accident doesnt make sense to me.

what actually got jammes and hurt him i have no idea.

if the jaw snapped, why would it be caught any other way? sounds like this man was using the wronng tool for the job. i have no pictures, and i dont work in that same plant. if at a few pumps the puller did not start to pull, he should have released and went a different route.

 

[djb2]

It's exactly what you are thinking -- a slight variation on the product name for a puller/ram kit with a separate hand operated "portable" hydraulic pump.

One advantage of using a hydraulic puller is that the ram and working fluid store very little energy, minimizing the movement when something releases. Any energy released was the spring force of the parts being pulled, or the ram section itself falling off.

 

[hofferwood]

Could have been using a "duckbill"
Chuck

 

[comedyman809]

thanks for the info guys.

as soon as i find out more info, ill let you know, because, if your anything like me, your just curious how this guy hurt himself exactly, and what exactly was he doing or doing wrong.

 

[Boiler]

Maybe he had a Chinese tool that broke when it shouldn't have. Hard to place blame on an employee, especially with this small amount of info.

 

[toxicz28]

If they are anything like the plant I work at, they will find a way blame the employee.
Wrong tool for the job
didn't inspect tool
wasn't trained in the proper use of the tool
not paying attention
etc. etc.
Kind of aggravating!

 

[Stuart in MN]

Could have been using a "duckbill"
Chuck

That's how I read it. The person was using the tool to try to push the sprocket off the shaft, and then the duckbill slipped off or broke.

 

[Art From De Leon]

Well, I would say that if he was using that in an attempt to remove a sprocket off a shaft, he was:
A. Using the wrong tool for the job.
and
B. Not properly trained to do the job he was trying to do.

If we were lucky and had access to an EnerPac (Porta-Power), we would use them to pull the seats out of our pumps, and depending on how much pressure the pump had been used at, the seat and seat puller assembly would jump pretty good when it would come loose. If we didn't have the hydraulic pump and ram assembly, the other way involved a large nut on an Acme threaded rod, and turning it with a pipe wrench until the seat popped loose

 

[Danglerb]

If they are anything like the plant I work at, they will find a way blame the employee.
Wrong tool for the job
didn't inspect tool
wasn't trained in the proper use of the tool
not paying attention
etc. etc.
Kind of aggravating!

Or in a union plant, always "improperly trained", when the employee does something stupid.

 

[tatra]

where i work, if al the proper procedures and tools were used and the tool was defective, still the employees fault for " not expecting the unexpected"...........i kid you not..............aholes in risk management..........

 

[comedyman809]

more times than none, the employee is taking a shortcut.

im not out to get this guy, nor do i even know him, or work with him.

im just curious as to what he was doing.

i got them memo, and these memos are obviously to help us be a little safer, and by understanding what exactly happened, i can avoid what he did.

the problem, any time there is an accident(there has been plenty this year with our company, 1 being that an employee got his head caught in a stacking machine and died- 3 weeks ago in georgia) the send us a memo, and they give us as little info as possible, as if a murder just occured and they dont want to release the identities of the victims and give too many details and risk losing the case.


and yes, to upper management, its always the employees fault because they dont want to pay.

they just fired my helper because he violated a safety rule, and broke his arm.

 

[caper]

Sounds more like a hydraulic puller to me than a duckbill.Sounds like one of the puller jaws slipped/let go and the unit came out and smacked the guy on the arm.Not an uncommon scenario.I've seen it happen before.I've also seen the jaws slip when the unit being pulled(sprocket in this case)lets go suddenly and there is now slack instead of everything being held tight under pressure.Working with pullers is inherently risky,you need to pay attention and keep yourself out of the line of fire.

 

[hofferwood]

(partial) As employee was attempting to remove sprocket with a hydraulic porta-pak the jaws/ arm on the attachment snapped. With the hydraulic porta-pak under pressure and the jaws positioned between the sprocket and machine side frame, the unit released and struck employee on his right forearm.

Sounds more like a hydraulic puller to me than a duckbill.Sounds like one of the puller jaws slipped/let go and the unit came out and smacked the guy on the arm.Not an uncommon scenario.I've seen it happen before.I've also seen the jaws slip when the unit being pulled(sprocket in this case)lets go suddenly and there is now slack instead of everything being held tight under pressure.Working with pullers is inherently risky,you need to pay attention and keep yourself out of the line of fire.

Kinda why I said "duckbill"
Chuck

 

[scooby074]

i have to agree with caper's take;

Portapower on a 3 jaw puller. jaws behind the sprocket/ jaws slipped past the edge of sprocket or broke. puller shoots off.

Duckbill maybe. but if the sprocket was on there that tight, a duckbill might **** it more, making it worse.

http://www.enerpac.com/en/products/pullers/bhp-series-grip-puller-sets

 

[Rudyjr]

where i work, if al the proper procedures and tools were used and the tool was defective, still the employees fault for " not expecting the unexpected"...........i kid you not..............aholes in risk management..........

Same B.S. where I work.

 

[RAYJAY]

I have seen hyd. puller go thru a block wall.

first thing you learn when using them is never never stand in front of the ram........ our pullers are 10 to 20 ton units. and yes we have launched a few....... nature of the beast so to speak

comedyman809 where do you work ? sounds like a printing plant ??? that being a flexo unit they were working on.

here is one of our folders on a rebuild a couple of years ago

 

[comedyman809]

I have seen hyd. puller go thru a block wall.

first thing you learn when using them is never never stand in front of the ram........ our pullers are 10 to 20 ton units. and yes we have launched a few....... nature of the beast so to speak

comedyman809 where do you work ? sounds like a printing plant ??? that being a flexo unit they were working on.

here is one of our folders on a rebuild a couple of years ago

[/QUOTE

box plant--

sheet plant

 

[09-JK]

Is your company okay with you posting details of an accident report online? I'm sure the lawyers would be cringing if there is any chance of a liability case.

 

[comedyman809]

well, considering there are no names, and not many details, it cant possibly do anything, also, i hope nothing happens!!!

 

[comedyman809]

im sure the guy will get workmans compensation, return on light duty, and the thats it.

if any major damage happend, we would have had a giant meeting already.

 

[09-JK]

I would just be careful what you post.

 

[shovel]

Comedyman, after working in the plants for over 30 years, I can promise you what is issued on the report is not "EXACTLY" what happened. Probably pretty close, but everybody plays CYA from the injured on up the management ladder. For a while, the company I work for tried using incidents as a learning tool. Nowadays, they just look for someone to blame to get the heat off them. No forgivness at all. While not familar with your equipment, I have seen hydraulic units fail. I have seen mechanical pieces fail. I have seen operator and mechanic error and design error. Rarely does an incident and investigation pinpoint the exact problem, but "shotguns" all scenarios. Good luck with your investigation. I do hope the employee is not seriously hurt and there are no long term repercussions.

 

[comedyman809]

im not doing the investigating, all i am is curious as to what happened and am trying to figure it out given the details i posted.

that is all i have.

no names, hardly any details.

it could be a bunch of things, but when they say a tool caused an injury, i doubt its anything other than someone using a tool and got hurt.

nobody even said anyone was in trouble for anything, its just a statement and a brief description of what happened.

for all we know, the tool could have been faulty, sheared, cut his forearm, put a band aid on it and went home. its recordable because obviously he had to stop and let people know what happened.