Contact with hot objects or substances · Second degree heat (thermal) burns
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Tank Trailer Cleaning, Inc., 1102 N. First St., EAST SAINT LOUIS, ILLINOIS 62201
on — Second degree heat (thermal) burns, affecting the neck and back.
Final narrative
An employee was prepping a tank trailer for cleaning and received second degree burns to the back and neck from steam.
HospitalizedNeck and backSteam, vapors-nonchemical
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 221320)
An employee was setting a rebuilt water pump using a forklift and a chain after inspecting the area where the pump was going to be placed. While the employee's right hand was on a nearby valve flange, the water pump shifted while in the air and struck the employee's right index finger, fracturing it. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
A waste water technician was retrieving a tool to adjust a gauge on a water pump when a copperhead snake bit the employee's right hand. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was at the top of the ladder on the passenger side of a tanker trailer. While the tanker was being loaded, the employee was checking the level of the liquid inside the tanker by looking through the manhole on top of the tanker. The employee may have been overwhelmed by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or the odor of raw sewage, causing him to lose consciousness and fall approximately 10 feet to the ground. The employee sustained a brain bleed and fractures to their skull, face, spine, and multiple ribs.
An employee was working in a wastewater facility, cleaning a metal screen. He positioned it against a railing on top of a metal grating, which was above a headworks bypass channel. When he stepped onto a trapezoid-shaped section of grating, it slid forward and tipped into the channel. The employee fell about 5 feet into the channel, which contained about 1 foot of stagnant wastewater. He suffered a rotator cuff and ligament tear in his left shoulder, a contusion on the left side of his back, a broken left-side rib, and a tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
An employee was lifting a compactor when it slid in his hand and caught his right little finger between the compactor and the truck trailer, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.