Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Tekni Plex Inc. , 201 Industrial Parkway , SOMERVILLE, NEW JERSEY 08876
on — Amputations, affecting the nonclassifiable.
An employee was observing a machine that was not advancing a plastic sheet correctly and jamming as a result. The employee was checking the tension of the drive belt by depressing the belt with his fingers when the machine unexpectedly advanced the sheet, causing the drive belt to move. When the drive belt moved, the employee's left index finger was caught between the belt and pulley. The employee's left index finger broke at the knuckle near the hand (proximal phalanx) and was lacerated in the same location, damaging the top tendon.
On September 25, 2023, an employee was working in the body department installing doors, hoods, and tailgates. The employee finished their shift and was hospitalized later that evening for a back injury.
An employee was using straps to secure a load inside a transport trailer. The employee was standing on a stack of finished goods that was three pallets high. Each pallet was 16 inches high. He was walking from the stack of three pallets onto a stack of two pallets when he lost his balance and fell onto another stack of finished goods (that was two pallets high) and then landed on the floor of the trailer. The employee was hospitalized with fractured ribs.
An employee was unclogging a resin sifting machine. The rotary sifter's automatic system activated and the sifter blade struck the employee's fingertip, causing an avulsion. The fingertip was medically amputated.
An employee was helping to remove a roll of plastic from a line when the tail stock on the machine snapped back and caught the employee's right middle fingertip, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was installing fence posts when they stepped into a recently dug hole that was not visible due to rainfall. The employee's leg was fractured.
An employee assisted in cleaning material from a conveyor pit. After the pit was cleaned, the employee proceeded to replace metal safety plates to ensure other employees did not fall into the pit. While replacing one of the last plates, the employee mis-stepped and fell approximately 5 feet into the pit. The employee was hospitalized with back/side bruising, elbow bruising, bone bruises, and/or fractured ribs.
An employee was walking on the sidewalk. When they stepped off the curb, they fell to the ground, resulting in fractures to their tibia, fibula, and a metatarsal.