Field Story · Machinery Safety
The Glove That Got Pulled Into the Conveyor
A line operative reached over a moving conveyor to clear a jammed carton. His loose glove cuff caught the roller and dragged his hand toward the nip point before the emergency stop was hit.
The machine had a guard, but it had been removed weeks earlier for a maintenance job and never refitted. No one had raised it because the line kept running. The worker escaped with bruising, but a fraction of a second slower on the stop and it would have been an amputation.
The lesson
Fixed and interlocked guarding exists precisely so that a person cannot reach a dangerous moving part. A guard that is removed for maintenance must be treated as a live hazard until it is back in place and checked. Machine safety principles under ISO 12100 put guarding and interlocks ahead of relying on people to keep their hands clear.
This is a composite case study built from common near-miss patterns, used to illustrate the safety principles involved. It does not describe a specific real person or workplace.