Fall from collapsing structure or equipment, unspecified · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Frontier Communications, 3662 County Road AB, COTTAGE GROVE, WISCONSIN 53527
on — Fractures, affecting the leg(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee installing a satellite dish suffered a broken leg when the portable trailer stairs he was working from tipped over as he disconnected his testing equipment.
An employee was checking a buried wire vault. When the employee stepped back, their right foot landed on the edge of the sidewalk. The employee fell to the ground and suffered a broken hip.
An employee was climbing a ladder to run a line when a telephone pole that was supporting the ladder broke. The employee fell from the ladder and suffered a fractured leg.
An employee was descending a ladder that was attached midspan between two utility poles. The ladder shifted and the left hook came loose, causing the employee to be thrown 6 to 8 feet to the ground. The employee sustained rib fractures, a shoulder injury, and a head injury that caused a loss of consciousness.
An employee was descending a ladder when their left foot slipped, and the employee fell to the ground, landing on their left side. The employee sustained fractures to the collar bone, left-side ribs, and left middle finger. The left ring finger was lacerated.
On March 25, 2022, an employee was preparing to install a new service at a residential home. The employee set up a ladder with retractable hooks and as he was climbing the ladder it started to slide causing the employee to fall to the ground with the ladder. The employee fractured their wrist and ankle and was hospitalized.
An employee was on a step ladder applying glue to a panel when the ladder fell apart, causing the employee to fall to the floor. The employee sustained rib fractures.
On December 5, 2023, an employee was loading product onto a freight elevator when the elevator fell with the employee inside. The employee sustained a right leg injury.
On 11/28/2023, an employee was loading a cart with supplies to be delivered to a restaurant. He stepped onto a ramp to get into the back of a truck but the ramp fell to the ground, causing the employee to fall as well. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured ankle.
An employee was climbing a 16-foot fiberglass extension ladder to access a roof so they could take measurements for a roofing quote. The employee had partially ascended the ladder when the ladder broke in half. The employee's foot was caught in a ladder rung resulting in an ankle fracture that required surgery.
An employee was replacing a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) valve in a ceiling while standing on a ladder. The ladder collapsed while the employee was descending, causing them to fall to the floor. The employee sustained a broken wrist.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 532490)
An employee was pulling a data cable through a ceiling. He fell through the ceiling, landing at ground level. He suffered a laceration to the forehead, a dislocated left little finger, a broken left ring finger, and a laceration to the liver.
On September 16, 2025, an employee was installing and adjusting spotlights on a performance stage that was under construction. While crossing the stage to speak with other contractors, the employee encountered a section of the stage where the elevation changed to a lower level. As the employee stepped down 14 inches to the lower level, his knee locked up and he fell to the stage. He subsequently rolled off the stage and fell approximately 2 to 3 feet to the floor, resulting in a fractured tibial plateau in his right leg.
An employee was delivering a 65-foot boom lift to a rental customer's construction site. The employee set up the ramp truck in the parking lot adjacent to the construction site. He elevated the boom 4-5 feet to clear a temporary fence. While driving the boom lift off the ramp, the wheels slid to the driver's side of the ramp truck, ultimately sliding off the ramp. The boom lift fell off the side of the truck and rolled onto its side. The employee sustained a fractured clavicle, a dislocated shoulder, separated/fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and a fractured left femur. The employee required surgery.
An employee was performing maintenance on a telehandler and installing a carriage lift cylinder. The employee was checking the alignment when the cylinder slipped and partially amputated his left middle finger.
An employee had just serviced a battery and was reinstalling it in a forklift using a battery extractor. The employee was trying to pull the battery out of the battery compartment when the extractor moved, causing the battery to shift on the rollers. The employee's right hand was crushed between the top of the battery and the battery compartment.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.