Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315773580 - Tesla Motors, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on November 28, 2011, Employee #1 a 48-year-old male with Tesla Motors Inc., was teaching two other new technicians how to manually adjust the air levels on the Vibration table Shaker. Employee #1 paused the Vibration Table Shaker from a computer, and then went inside an enclosed room where Vibration Table Shaker was kept. The two technicians being trained followed Employee #1 inside the room. Employee #1 used his right index finger to point to the shaker, to show the trainees how to monitor the "reference point on the small expander head" a component of the Shaker table. As Employee #1's finger went in a gap between the shaker head and a piece of wood on the outer enclosure of the table, the shaker head lost air pressure and dropped downwards into the gap. As a result, the tip of Employee #1's index finger was amputated when it was caught in this pinch point and smashed by the shaker head. The incident was witnessed directly by one of the trainees. Employee #1 was hospitalized for more than 24 hours and he lost a part of his finger's bone due to the injury. Employee #1 was a Lead Senior Mechanical Engineer who provided training to new employees. Employee #1 said that he was trained on the Lock Out/Tag Out and block out procedure, but in this situation he had to leave the machinery energized to show the reference point, otherwise he was unable to show it to them if it was deenergized. Employee #1 said, he had used his finger before as a pointer and never had such an accident; however, this time the machine malfunctioned because the safety air sensor got shorted and caused the shaker head drop on his finger. Employee #1 also admitted that it was not the first time he had done it. He had used his finger as a pointer previously to point out the same location at this machinery. This was a common practice. Employee #1 also stated that there was no pointer or extension tool was available on and before of the incident. Employee #1 stated that from now on he will use an extension tool. Employee #1 was never disciplined by the employer for not using an extension tool. Employee #1 suffered a serious injury (lost partial bone) that required hospitalization for more than 24 hours and required surgery. Employee #1 was able to return to work after three or four days.

Keywords: AMPUTATED, FINGER, LOCKOUT, POINT OF OPERATION, NIP POINT