Fall through surface or existing opening 11 to 15 feet · Traumatic injuries and disorders, unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at B & L Welding, LLC, 6th and Walnut Streets, ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA 18101
on — Traumatic injuries and disorders, unspecified, affecting the nonclassifiable.
Final narrative
An employee fell 12 feet through a floor opening on the 6th floor to the 5th floor. His harness was not attached at the time.
An employee was checking an HVAC unit in the attic when they fell approximately 15 feet through the rafters to the floor. The employee sustained fractures to the ribs and scapula as well as a collapsed lung.
An employee was removing grating to change metal chip hoppers located in a pit. The employee lost his balance and fell approximately 12 feet from the grate, landing in the metal chip hopper. The employee sustained a sprained right foot, a left foot fracture, and a fractured L5 vertebra.
An employee was reviewing the next steps to take with the foreman when some material fell from above and landed near them. The injured employee then looked up, took a step on the catwalk, and fell through a gap, landing on the ground 15 feet below. The employee sustained three fractured vertebrae and a head laceration.
0n November 16, 2023, an employee was climbing onto a catwalk to cut valves for unit heaters in a building. The employee fell 14 feet through the attic onto the concrete floor, resulting in a fractured pelvis.
An employee was removing a rooftop curb when they fell approximately 15 feet through an opening in the roof, resulting in a fractured leg that required hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 238120)
An employee fell from a step ladder while reaching for a tie-off point. He impacted the ground, and landed on his bolt bag which contained tools. The employee was hospitalized with fractured ribs, and a lacerated spleen and kidney.
An employee was attempting to lift a steel beam from a horizontal, stacked position to a vertical position using a crane. They had placed two hooks on the east side of the beam on the flange. As the employee was hoisting the crane, the beam began to shift and pulled the employee forward onto the stack. When the material shifted, the hooks released and the material fell, pinning the employee between the two beams. The employee was hospitalized with soft tissue contusions on their proximal right thigh and interior left thigh.
An employee was standing on the surface of a steel beam about two feet wide. He slipped and fell backward, landing on the concrete ground about 20 feet below. The employee sustained a broken pelvis.
An employee was unloading a rebar delivery from a flatbed, 19-wheel trailer. The employee rigged the load with wire rope chokers. The load was picked up 3-4 feet above the trailer deck by a crane. The load began to swing and the employee grabbed onto it to prevent it from being pushed off the trailer deck. The crane continued to lift the load, and the employee let go so the crane did not lift him to the third story. The employee fell approximately 12 feet to the ground below, resulting in a back injury and fractured vertebrae.
An employee was attaching a steel angle plate weighing (approximately 200 pounds) to the end of a structural member (5,000 pounds) and was supported by dunnage. The dunnage was a crane mat (11 inches tall) with a 4x6 board on top of it and it supported five identical members. The main piece was 30.75 feet long, 37.25 feet tall, and 1 food wide. As the employee slid the piece of metal on top of the member to begin attaching it, the entire member began to tip over. The employee went to stop the main piece from tipping over and it landed on his ankle, fracturing it.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.