Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Averitt Express, Inc., 2100 N. Main Street, MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA 74401
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was standing on a trailer to pull down the roll-up door. It was raining and the employee slipped and fell which caused the door to come down on his left hand amputating the left middle and ring fingers at the first joint.
An employee was lifting an 80-pound propane tank onto a forklift when he fell, resulting in a right femur fracture that required hospitalization and surgery.
On April 8, 2022, an employee was trying to stabilize freight (individually boxed glass panels) that was lined up from sidewall to sidewall inside a trailer. The freight started to lean and the employee tried to catch it. The employee lost his balance due to the weight (660 lbs.) of the freight and hit his head on the side of the trailer, sustaining compression of the cervical spine and fractured vertebrae that required surgery.
A driver was using a pallet jack to move a pallet to the back of a trailer when a slat broke on the pallet and caused the pallet jack to tilt. The driver fell off the back of the trailer about 4 feet to the pavement. The driver sustained an open fracture to the right elbow that required hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was driving a forklift inside a box truck. While adjusting the load, the employee's leg was pinned by the forklift, resulting in a leg fracture.
An employee was walking to their truck to look for a lid. When they stepped between the truck and a dock plate, they sustained a knee injury that required surgery.
An employee was standing on plant bed timbers, using a powered hand trimmer to trim the shrubs in the plant bed. The timber gave way, breaking into several pieces. The employee lost balance and fell with the trimmer in his hand. He suffered a severe laceration to the right wrist and hand.
An employee was loading phosphoric acid onto a rail car and preparing to secure the rail car for transport. While repositioning the loadout spout to secure it back to the drip pan holster on the dock, the spout contacted the handrail of the rail car, causing the employee to lose balance. The employee stepped back and their right foot entered the opening for the rail car, causing him to twist/pivot on his left leg. The employee's lower left leg was fractured.
On November 14, 2023, an employee was receiving a delivery from a truck when some of the merchandise fell from the truck s lift and struck him. He then fell to the ground and his head struck the sidewalk, resulting in an injury that required hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 484121)
An employee fell while exiting a trailer. The employee landed on their left side on the pavement, suffering multiple broken ribs on the left side. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was hooking up a set of 28-foot trailers, attaching a converter dolly to the lead trailer's pintle hook. He backed up the lead trailer and parked it a foot from the converter dolly, then lifted the converter dolly and rolled it to the lead trailer to set it onto the hook. The converter dolly kicked up, and the employee's left hand was caught between it and the trailer. He suffered a severe laceration to the palm between the ring finger and middle finger.
An employee was cleaning the windshield of his truck. When he stepped down from the truck, he lost balance and reached to catch himself using the side mirror. The impact fractured his left wrist. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was standing on the DOT bumper on the back of a standard 53-foot trailer. The employee lost his footing and his grip on the handle bar, and fell approximately 42 inches to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured left hip/femur.
A driver was making a delivery. As he was climbing onto his trailer to get boxes, the strap he was using to pull himself up broke. He fell from the back of the trailer to the ground, landing on his right leg and breaking his femur.
An employee was helping to move a 1,300-pound coil on a cart. The steel caster hit a crack in the concrete, the weld holding the caster onto the cart broke, and the coil and cart tipped over onto the employee. He was hospitalized with a laceration on his forehead and a pelvic fracture on his right side.
An employee was working in the food service warehouse when he experienced chest pain, difficulty breathing, and lost consciousness. The employee sustained carbon monoxide poisoning.
An employee was cutting a piece of metal rod with a metal cutting machine. His right middle finger became caught between the rod and the machine's table. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated.
An employee was working at her desk. She went to stand up and fell to the floor beside the desk. The employee sustained a hip displacement and required surgery.
An employee was processing wood boards at a chop saw when the saw malfunctioned and the blade cut her left hand and fingers. She was hospitalized and her little finger was surgically amputated.