Struck by discharged object or substance · Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Westfield Distributing, 3502 E. Mound Road, DECATUR, ILLINOIS 62521
on — Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds, affecting the eye(s).
Final narrative
An employee was hammering a punch out of a large piece of steel when a piece of metal flew up and over his safety glasses and went into his eye.
An employee was installing wood trim surrounding a skylight inside a home. While holding a piece of trim in it's desired location, his pneumatic nail gun discharged, sending a 3/4-inch pin nail into his left forearm.
An employee removed a safety valve on a trailer that unknowingly contained nitrogen gas. The gas released from the trailer and pushed the employee backward off a scaffold approximately 10 feet before they struck a garage door, resulting in a pelvic injury.
An employee was sitting at her workstation when a nail gun malfunctioned and shot a nail into her left leg. She suffered a puncture and blood vessel injury and was hospitalized.
On November 25, 2023, an employee was using a high-pressured water hose to perform sewer line cleaning operations. The employee's right little finger and palm were lacerated by pressurized water from the hose.
An employee was climbing up a fixed ladder alongside a building to inspect a roof leak. The employee fell off the ladder and landed on the ground about 15 feet below. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to both wrists.
On September 16, 2025, an employee went to pull a weld stand when he tripped and fell, landing on the floor on his right hip. The employee suffered hip and fibula fractures that required hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was accessing a tensioned hook that required a hoist mechanism to be engaged. He was unhooking the lift hook from a shelf column when the "up" button was pressed, which released the tension on the pneumatic air hoist. The employee's right index finger was caught between the hook and the column, resulting in a soft tissue amputation and fracture to the fingertip.
A crane was lifting a pole out of a zinc bath in the galvanizing department when the chain attached to the pole broke. The pole fell back into the bath and liquid zinc splashed onto an employee, who suffered third-degree burns to an arm, the abdomen, the torso, the upper left side of the chest, an ear, the neck, and a hand.
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.