Incident Insights: Hazardous energy leads to a fan belt injury
On January 31, 2022, a UW employee was assigned to replace the motor-pulley V-belts on a supply air fan that was part of a multiple fan system. The maintenance worker turned off the electricity to the supply fan motor and removed the V-belt guard to gain better visibility of the belts. The fan stopped, but airflow from the other supply fans on the system caused the supply fan, under repair, to move in the reverse direction. The worker placed their gloved hand on the moving belts to stop the movement, and their hand was pulled into the belt and pulley system.