Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Crushing injuries
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at KS Energy Services, LLC., 60th and Center St., MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53201
on — Crushing injuries, affecting the ankle(s).
Final narrative
Workers were breaking up concrete to install gas lines and were placing the concrete chunks on a flatbed truck. The injured employee was operating a backhoe. The flatbed operator tilted the bed of the flatbed truck slightly to make it easy to move concrete into the bucket of the backhoe. The injured employee then climbed up onto the tilted flatbed and began moving the smaller pieces of concrete into the bucket of the backhoe by hand when a large piece of concrete slid and pinned his ankle between the bucket of the backhoe and that large piece of concrete. His ankle was crushed.
The employee was attempting to couple a pipe trailer to a hitch on a backhoe and got a finger caught between the coupler on the trailer and the receiver on the backhoe after lifting it to connect the two. The right index finger was amputated.
An employee was installing duct in a trench box. Because the trench was in an incline, the road plate shifted towards the box and pinched the worker's right forearm, causing it to break.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 221210)
An employee was operating an aerial work platform. While the employee was maneuvering the lift through a set of double doors, their head was caught between the door frame and the platform's vertical mast. The employee suffered a skull fracture that required surgery.
An employee was transporting used filter media (containing pyrophoric iron sulfide) from an inlet gas separator in the bed of a truck. The material ignited. While the employee was removing items from the truck bed, a gas can was exposed to the fire and off-gassing vapors ignited. The employee suffered first- and second-degree burns to both arms, the chest, the neck, and the right ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was using a pipe threading machine to thread a 2-inch diameter gas pipe during the rebuilding of a gas meter. The pipe was in a vise mounted on the back of the crew truck. A few pieces of metal chips or shavings caused the threading machine to jam. The employee started to back the pipe up, but it jammed in that direction as well. While reaching to pull the handle back up into place to try and start again, the machine rotated about an inch and pinched his middle fingertip against the edge of the truck s back step. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without loss of bone.
The injured employee was manually lowering a ramp on a heavy equipment trailer with the assistance of another employee. The injured employee was standing behind the trailer ramp. After removing the safety pins, the ramp descended quickly and struck the injured employee, causing them to fall to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their sternum and L1 vertebra.
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.