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*                          INFORMATION ALERT                        *  
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*  Produced by:  Ontario Ministry of Labour                         *  
*  Provided by:  Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety *  
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INFO ALERT:  26
  
DATE:  November 5, 1992
  
CRITICAL INJURY - SNOWBLOWERS

HAZARD SUMMARY: 

A custodial worker sustained critical injuries to his hand while cleaning 
out a snowblower machine which had been parked and shut off. The worker 
was removing a small blockage of snow from the discharge chute when the 
discharge impeller blades rotated about three inches and crushed the 
worker's fingers, causing four fractures and severe lacerations.

LOCATION(S) AND SECTOR(S):

Education/Retain/Service Sectors

SUGGESTED PRECAUTIONS AND APPLICABLE SECTION(S) OF THE INDUSTRIAL 
REGULATIONS:

Failure to maintain the snowblower properly resulted in excessive play 
through the drive belts, the shaft linkage and the gear reduction unit, 
allowing energy to be stored at the discharge impeller blades. In this 
case, a drive belt of the wrong size had been installed.

Upon further examination of this machine, other hazards became evident:

1)  The sustained manual pressure control device, when released, did not 
    prevent the machine travelling while in the forward/reverse mode of 
    operation.

2)  In neutral mode of operation, with the engine running at full 
    throttle, the snowblower travelled in a reverse direction.

3)  The auger blades were controlled by a manual lever placed in the on or 
    off positions, so that an operator could leave the machine without 
    preventing rotation by the blades. THIS LEVER SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH 
    A SUSTAINED MANUAL PRESSURE CONTROL DEVICE.

4)  The design of this machine was such that if a smaller diameter belt 
    was inadvertently installed on the auger drive pulleys, the auger 
    blades could be stopped only by shutting the engine off. PROPER 
    MAINTENANCE MUST BE CARRIED OUT, USING CORRECT REPLACEMENT PARTS.

5)  Personal protective equipment, namely foot and eye protection should 
    be worn by an operator.

These serious injuries would have been prevented if the equipment had been 
properly maintained and kept in good operating condition, with the 
impeller blades blocked to prevent movement before work was done to clear 
a snow blockage. This is required by Sections 79 and 80 of the Industrial 
Regulations and Section 25 (1)(b) of the OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY 
ACT.

Sec. 79   "A part of a machine, transmission machinery, device or thing 
          shall be cleaned, oiled, adjusted, repaired or have maintenance 
          work performed on it only when,

          (a)  motion that may endanger a worker has stopped; and

          (b)  any part that has been stopped and that may subsequently 
               move and endanger a worker has been blocked to prevent its 
               movement.

Sec. 80   "Where the starting of a machine, transmission machinery, device 
          or thing may endanger the safety of a worker,

          (a)  control switches or other control mechanisms shall be 
               locked out; and
               
          (b)  other effective precautions to prevent such starting shall 
               be taken."

NOTE:  "Information Alert" is produced by the Industrial Health and  
       Safety Branch, Ministry of Labour.  The goal of this publication  
       is to communicate hazard information as soon as it becomes  
       available to prevent serious injury to workers.  Reproduction  
       and use of these alerts is encouraged.