Contact with hot objects or substances · Third or fourth degree heat (thermal) burns
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at SAPA Extrusions, Inc., 53 POTTSVILLE STREET, CRESSONA, PENNSYLVANIA 17929
on — Third or fourth degree heat (thermal) burns, affecting the nonclassifiable.
Final narrative
On Thursday, May 5, 2016, at approximately 12:15AM, an employee was severely burned when performing maintenance work on an aluminum furnace door. The employee suffered second and third degree burns to 20% of his body.
On October 14, 2017, at approximately 10:45 AM, an employee was using a hoist to move a basket containing a tool stack (approximately 1,060 pounds). He was using his left hand to operate the hoist remote while his right hand was on the basket. As the basket landed, the tool stack shifted, pinching and amputating his right middle fingertip.
An employee and a coworker were conducting a lift using an overhead gantry crane. The coworker was operating the crane and lifting the load, so the employee began to leave the danger zone. As he was walking, he tripped and fell over a 4x4 spacer that was permanently set on the floor. As he was falling, his hard hat fell off and he struck his head against a rack of aluminum pipes (finished product), suffering a head laceration that required stitches.
An employee on a scissor lift that had a manually extendible boom was replacing a furnace door. As he was maneuvering the door, he placed his left hand on the lift's top rail assembly, which consisted of a square tubing channel and a U-shaped channel. When he pushed the door against the lift, his left pinky was caught and amputated (above the knuckle) between the two channels.
While moving dye, employee pinched the right ring finger between the clevis and hook. The employee was taken to the hospital where the tip of the finger was amputated.
An employee connected a steam line to a hose to clean equipment when the fitting broke loose. They were struck by steam in the left inner thigh, resulting in burns that required hospitalization.
An employee was making tea when she noticed tea grinds were collecting on the side and water was no longer dripping through the funnel. The employee was checking the funnel when boiling water and tea grinds spilled onto the left side of her body. The employee sustained burns to her neck, back, and arm.
An employee had turned off the ball valve on a waterpipe system and was removing the plug when the coupling system attached to the strainer came apart. Hot water sprayed on his arm and back, resulting in first- and second-degree burns that required surgery.
An employee was using a shovel to remove waste vermiculite from molten zinc. The metal had been placed in a bin and partially hardened. The employee broke through the partially hardened metal; still-molten metal flowed to the employee's steel-toed right boot and entered through the cloth boot tongue. The employee suffered a third-degree burn to the right foot and was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331316)
At 7:01 p.m. on June 16, 2025, two employees were pushing a saw horse with a bundle of aluminum on it when it flipped over onto the injured employee. The employee was hospitalized with a broken leg and required surgery.
An employee was performing maintenance on a press puller and aligning the puller when it fell. The puller electrical panel struck their left upper back, resulting in fractures to their T12 and L1 vertebrae. The employee was hospitalized.
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.