Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at United Airlines, Inc. , 3500 North Terminal Road, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77032
on — Fractures, affecting the ankle(s).
Final narrative
An employee was directing and parking an incoming aircraft. While on headsets communicating with the cockpit, the employee walked backwards into a moving jet bridge. The jet bridge struck the employee's right ankle, breaking it and requiring surgery.
An employee was downloading bags off an aircraft. Upon exiting the cargo compartment, and while climbing down the steps of the belt loader, the employee lost her footing, slipped, and fell to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to her wrist and hip.
An employee was driving a luggage tractor on the ramp area when the vehicle struck a dip in the ground that caused the wheels to come off the ground and bounce. The employee was hospitalized with a back injury.
An employee was conducting training at the end of the passenger loading bridge. She tripped over the carpet of the jetway while instructing the trainee on jetway operations and fell onto her right hip, resulting in a severe hip injury that required hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was moving a locker from the back of a pickup truck to another truck. The employee's feet became entangled with security straps, causing him to lose his balance and fall backward from the truck to the ground. The employee sustained a traumatic brain injury.
An employee was inspecting a bridge repair project. A gas-powered, walk-behind pavement saw, being used 12 feet away from the employee lunged forward, cutting his left foot. The employee's fourth toe was amputated and he was hospitalized.
An employee had been reviewing an insulated glass unit. The employee was placing the glass unit back in its box when it slipped out of the box and a chipped corner lacerated the employee's left hand.
An employee was on a truck while using a clamp to secure a quartz slab to an A-frame on the truck. A gust of wind pushed the slab onto the employee, resulting in a dislocated right shoulder and wrist.
An employee was shearing off two inches of metal when the metal kicked up and struck his hand. The employee's left ring and middle fingertips were amputated.
An employee was working on a 35,000-pound I.D. fan. As the employee rotated the blades with his foot, the blades continued to spin, lacerating his right foot and amputating a toe.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 481111)
An employee was clearing a jam on the airport baggage system conveyor when his left leg became caught between slats of the conveyor. The employee sustained fractures and tissue damage to his lower leg, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was helping offload an aircraft. She was standing in the opening between a parked cart and an unoccupied aircraft tug when another vehicle struck a stationary bag cart, which then struck her. The employee suffered a skull fracture near the right eye, a right kneecap fracture, a nose fracture, and sinus damage, as well as soft tissue damage to the left calf and hip. She was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was working to refuel a truck. While handling the fuel hose(s), she experienced pain in her stomach. After completing the task, the employee drove back to the pad and the movement aggravated her abdominal pain. The employee was hospitalized with an abdominal sprain/strain.
An employee was on a jetway overseeing the operation. As the jet bridge was retracted, the employee's left arm was caught between the jet bridge side walls. The employee sustained a degloving to their left forearm.
An employee was descending a fixed ladder on the side of a container loader. The employee fell from the ladder, landing on the ground about 6-8 feet below and sustained fractures to their back and pelvis.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.