Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at National Gypsum Company, 10 Louisiana St, WESTWEGO, LOUISIANA 70094
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the arm(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was attempting to adjust the arm on an active machine, which was between a set of rollers set 12 to 15 inches apart. The employee's hand was caught between the arm and a roller, burning his skin and requiring hospitalization.
An employee was emptying trash from a trash hopper into a dumpster. As he was trying to clear cement debris inside the trash hopper (which was lifted up by a forklift), he lost his footing and fell about 6 feet from the dumpster to the concrete floor, injuring his head, clavicle, and ribs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was operating a pallet lift device in reverse. The employee jammed the left foot between the fork truck housing and the loaded pallet behind.
An employee was cleaning the shower line (high pressure water line) in the liner head box on the wet end of a paper machine. He stood up to get out of the box as someone from maintenance began to move the crane and got caught between the crane bridge and the liner head box lid. He broke his ribs and left forearm and dislocated his sternum.
Two employees were repairing the hydraulic engagement pins on a rented front-end wheel loader. The machine controls were activated to move the attachment pins and an employee's finger was caught between the pins and the bushings. Their right index finger was partially amputated.
An employee was cleaning the conveyor on a piece of equipment when they slipped and their right hand was pulled into the chain sprocket. The employee's fifth fingertip was amputated.
An employee was throwing blankets onto a blanket folding and stacking machine. A blanket got stuck in the machine and she attempted to remove it when the machine contacted her right little finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 327420)
An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.
An employee was conducting routine maintenance on a mixer. New lid pins had been installed, and the employee was rotating by hand to ensure they had been installed correctly. The employee's left middle finger was caught between the lid and top of a pin. The momentum from the mixer continued, causing a crushing injury to the finger. The employee underwent a medical amputation from the top knuckle to the tip of the finger.
On July 29, 2025, an employee was placing dunnage spacers on the wall board near the production line. He began to feel lightheaded. The employee was hospitalized with heat-related illness.
An employee was working in the formula section, putting labels on the pails and pouring product into the pails. The employee tripped over the formulation pallet and fell into a bucket of microbicide chemical. They sustained second-degree burns to the neck, back, right shoulder, left leg, and behind the right knee.
A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.
A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.