Struck by swinging or slipping object, other than handheld, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at United Launch Alliance, LLC, 1001 Red Hat Road, DECATUR, ALABAMA 35601
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was lowering a large hook onto a halo shackle used to move large manufactured parts. The employee was guiding the hook down with the left hand. As the hook reached the edge of the halo cable tray, the force of the hook landing on the cable tray caused an amputation of the left ring finger to the distal joint (below the nail bed).
On November 7, 2022, an employee was bending a piece of a one-inch galvanized steel conduit with his hands, using an X-frame for leverage. The conduit slipped, causing his left ring finger to become caught between the conduit and the X-frame. The employee's left ring fingertip was amputated without bone loss.
An employee was connecting a pneumatic-charged hose to a piston assembly when the piston started operating. His left-hand little finger was amputated near the first digit and his ring finger was amputated near the second digit. He was hospitalized.
A crew was pulling a 4-inch plastic gas pipe off a reel and straightening it for installation. The injured employee stepped up on the trailer to cut the last band holding the pipe in the coil on the reel. As he turned to step off the trailer, the end of the pipe rotated and sprung out of the cage surrounding the coil, striking the employee on the side of the head and knocking him off of the trailer into the roadway. The employee suffered head trauma that required hospitalization.
An employee and a co-worker were performing a pick inside a clear well. They rigged the skid pan that was full of broken concrete. When lifting, the load began to swing toward a wall. The employee tried to stop the skid pan from swinging and was struck by the pan, resulting in fractures to their left hip and wrist.
The employee had just completed refueling a lattice crane that was breaking up material and was winding the fuel hose back into the fuel truck when he was struck by the catwalk/stairs of the crane. The employee was hospitalized with a laceration to his backside, possible internal bleeding, and a broken hip.
An employee was fusing 10-inch black rubber utility pipes together using a pipe fusion machine and could not get the pipes to set correctly. The employee used a nylon strap attached to an excavator to lift one side of a pipe off a steel plate. As his hand was between two pipes, the pipes came back together, partially amputating two of his fingers.
An employee was lifting four bags of a lime blend weighing approximately 10,000 pounds using a crane. The load swung and pinned the employee against a structural I-beam, resulting in fractures to the hip and pelvis.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 336414)
A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. employee was setting up equipment for a welding operation, working from a ladder leaning against a domed vehicle structure. The ladder became unstable at the base, causing the employee to fall about 6 feet and strike their head on the metal leg of a work platform. The employee suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma and was hospitalized.
An employee was exiting the maintenance building when she tripped and fell on a paved incline walkway. She caught herself with her left hand and was hospitalized with a fractured left wrist that required surgery.
An employee was troubleshooting a dust collector when they sustained partial amputations to three of their right fingertips from the spinning rotor of the motor.
An employee was deburring a metal piece using a disc sander when their right thumb contacted the sanding surface, resulting in a partial traumatic metacarpophalangeal amputation.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.