Harcros Chemicals, Inc.

An employee was introducing an air sparge to an atmospheric blending vessel which contained sodium glucoheptonate (SGH) mother liquid heated to approximately 210 degrees Fahrenheit. The employee opened a valve to introduce air at the base of the vessel and rise through the vessel contents. The valve was stuck and when the handle broke free it turned further than desired and released more air than intended. The air rising through the vessel caused the SGH mother liquid to splash out of a 23-inch diameter manhole in the top of the vessel approximately 11 feet above the employee. The heated liquid fell onto the employee causing first- and second-degree thermal burns to his back.

An employee was working with a wrench. The employee fell backward into a valve, suffering an injury that required hospitalization.

While opening a valve an employee was splashed with chemicals and sustained chemical burns to the right leg, right arm, and face.

An employee was moving a pallet jack from a loading dock onto a trailer when the pallet jack became stuck in a gap between the dock and the trailer. The employee attempted to pull the jack free of the gap when his hand became pinched in the equipment, resulting in a partial amputation of the right index finger.

An employee was using a forklift to unload a pallet of 55-gallon drums from a tractor trailer. A 55-gallon drum containing hydrofluoric acid was leaking and the acid was released into the air. The employee was hospitalized for exposure to the acid including lung and throat injuries.

An employee was going to the breakroom when they tripped over a chair and fell, resulting in a hip fracture.

An employee arrived at work and was walking into the store through the parking lot. The employee tripped over a curb and fell to the ground, sustaining a femur fracture.

An employee tripped over a box and fell to the floor, fracturing their right arm.

An employee tripped over a piece of angle iron and fell to the floor sustaining a broken hip.

An employee was preparing for a CT scan when she tripped over a loose strap and fell to the floor, fracturing her hip.

An employee was climbing into the cab of a semi-tractor when he stepped on the battery cover and it shifted from under him, causing him to fall to the ground. The employee sustained a fractured left wrist.

An employee was clearing a product flow restriction when the rotating valve activated. They sustained amputations to their left middle and index fingers.

A panel was being lifted when an attached roller (approximately 20 pounds) slipped and fell about 2 feet onto the hard hat of an employee working below. The roller also struck the employee's shoulder and back. The employee was hospitalized and suffered a contusion to the shoulder/back.

An employee drank water from a water cooler in the control room that was contaminated with sodium nitrite. The employee sustained methemoglobinemia and was hospitalized.

An employee was collecting waste material and taking it to a waste container that was in close proximity to material that was emitting chemical fumes due to elevated temperatures. The employee inhaled the fumes and was admitted to the hospital due to the exposure.

An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.

A casting machine jammed. An employee's hand was caught in the machine, where a belt line caught and amputated the tip of his finger.

During a workshop meeting in a hotel, an employee heard a drilling noise, so he walked outside to see what it was. An explosion occurred (possible gas line) and his face, ear, and hair were burned. He also fell and sustained a pelvic fracture.

An employee slipped on condensation on a walkway in a parking garage. She fell and suffered a closed fracture to the neck of the left femur.

An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.