Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Carpenter Technology Corporation, 101 West Bern Street, READING, PENNSYLVANIA 19612
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee brought a straddle truck into the shop to change the right rear shoe assembly lifting cylinder. He used a floor jack to support the weight of the lifting shoe so the locking clamp that holds the lifting shoe onto the hydraulic lifting cylinder shaft could be removed. The employee had a crescent wrench in his right hand at the time and taped on the clamp but found that the clamp was already free of the shaft. He attempted to push the back half of the clamp out to remove it from around the cylinder shaft and put the clamp on the floor. As he was doing this with his left hand, he put his right hand down on the floor to support himself while kneeling. The jack came out from under the shoe, and the shoe dropped a few inches to the floor. The wrench the employee had in his right hand was partially under the shoe when it dropped. The shoe fell onto the end of the wrench, and the employee's fingers were caught between the wrench handle and the floor, amputating the right-hand index and middle fingers at the first joint.
AmputationFinger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c.Vehicle and mobile equipment parts, n.e.c.
More severe injuries at Carpenter Technology Corporation
An employee was walking across a foot bridge at the workplace. They rolled their right ankle on the transition between the bridge and the ground and fractured it.
An employee was working at the strip metal processing machine (wet (oil) process). The employee used a rag in their right hand to clean a roller and three fingers were caught in a nip point, resulting in amputation of their right thumb tip as well as their index and middle fingertips. The machine was not guarded and running at the time.
An employee was performing a head change on the bar turner machine when the pinch rolls closed and the bar lifted, pinching the injured employee's left index finger between the bar and the rest. The employee sustained a fingertip amputation.
The injured employee was operating a straddle carrier to transfer a load to the billet yard. When they turned left into the billet yard, the straddle caught fire. The employee stopped the vehicle and jumped approximately 6-8 feet to the ground. The employee sustained first- and second-degree burns to the head, face, and arms, and a fractured right leg.
An employee was preparing to move a 2,800-pound mold using a sling lifting chain and overhead crane to insert a mold plug. Once the end of the mold was 12 to 16 inches from the floor, the employee stopped the crane and moved to insert the mold plug into the mold. The mold slipped out of the chains onto the employee's left foot, causing crush injuries to the first and second toes. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was moving a piece of an I-beam for welding when it rolled off the cribbing. The employee went to catch it when it fell and crushed the employee's finger, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was helping to disassemble large reels used to store steel wire when a 264-pound flange from the reel fell over onto the employee's left leg. The employee sustained multiple fractures to their leg and ligament injuries to the lower leg.
The injured employee was putting away materials on the warehouse floor as a co-worker was pushing a pallet onto a nearby shelf. The pallet knocked another pallet forward, causing it to fall onto the injured employee's shoulders. The employee suffered fractures in their right and left knees and ankles.
Employees were moving a single man lift into a building and reclining the lift to position it to fit through the door. The lift shifted and fell, causing the employee to sustain fractures to the left tibia and fibula. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery.
An employee was moving a light tower so it could be hitched to a truck. He grabbed the tongue of the trailer hitch on the light tower to slide it to the left. The tongue jack fell off, causing the light tower tongue to drop on the employee's right hand. The employee's middle fingertip was amputated.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331111)
An employee used a crane to set down a bar. The bar measured 9 inches by 16 feet. The strap got stuck under the bar, and the employee asked another employee to jog the roll. The bar rolled and pinched the injured employee's left hand, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
An employee was loading a steel forming machine with steel to be processed. He went to move a cooling hose out of the way and his left thumb was crushed by the forming roller, resulting in injuries that required surgical amputation.
An employee was advancing a rail to line up for welding with a secondary rail on the weld line when his right middle and ring fingers were caught between the rails. The employee sustained an amputation to the top knuckle of the middle finger and a fracture to the ring finger. The machine was guarded at the time.
An employee was preparing bundles of 24-foot square metal tubing to be loaded onto a truck and cut the safety band for a bundle. While the employee was removing a piece of dunnage from a bundle, they bumped the bundle with their leg. The metal tubing then fell forward and struck the employee, causing a fractured left ankle.
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.