Croda, Inc.

On August 24, 2018, an employee was bleeding out a line carrying cetyl 16-18 fatty alcohol. The material was frozen in the line; when the employee opened the bleeder valve, the hose blew off and struck him in the face. He suffered fractures of the hard palate and nasal spine and a lacerated gumline that required stitches.

An employee was heating and circulating a chemical batch in a process tank. The employee opened the automatic valve in the control room to begin the transfer of hot molten chemical material. Two bottom drain valves were left open on the transfer line spilling the hot molten chemical material onto the floor. The employee was hospitalized for second and third degree burns to the lower extremities and both hands and arms.

Employees were assembling and testing a butterfly valve unit and actuator combo. When the unit was function tested with air, the valve gate closed on an employee's left thumb resulting in a fracture and laceration.

An employee was doing a daily inspection of the sifter screen on a mixer when the mixer line activated. The armature for the screen struck the employee's right wrist. Their wrist was cut and their hand was fractured.

An employee was being trained on a machine when a roller came down on their hand, resulting in a fracture and laceration.

An employee was doing a dry run during the setup of an ice cream machine. The machine indexed and the filler head amputated the employee's left middle finger above the last knuckle.

An employee was on a 3-foot ladder guiding cable onto a spool during installation on an overhead door. As the control box was jogged, the employee's hand was caught between the cable and spool, resulting in a wrist and hand fracture.

Two employees were lifting a roll of steel poly bar (50 inches and approximately 150 pounds) from ground level to a height of 4 feet at the 66-inch rubber calendar. One employee dropped the roll, resulting in the poly bar contacting the injured employee's right knee. The employee was hospitalized with fractured right patella.

Employees were loading a 295-pound transformer onto a pickup truck using a forklift. The injured employee was acting as the spotter. The transformer hit the tailgate of the pickup truck and the spotter's right hand was struck by the transformer, resulting in amputation of the ring fingertip.

An employee was wearing full PPE while emptying a 55-gallon drum of phosphorus pentoxide and fainted, collapsing and striking their head against the ground. The employee was hospitalized and it is likely that heat caused by wearing full body PPE contributed to fainting.

An employee was troubleshooting a plug in the super-absorbent polymer line. The employee opened an inspection port and their right hand was caught in a rotary valve, resulting in the amputation of four fingers between the knuckle and the first joint.

An employee was conducting a quality control measure by taking a chemical sample for lab analysis. When the employee was opening the sample point, it broke off and crude 2-Ethylhexyl thioglycolate (EHTG) shot out at 265 degrees, and it covered the employee's legs and right arm and splashed the right side of their face. The employee was hospitalized with first- and second-degree burns to their right thigh, lower right knee, inner left thigh, and upper left forearm.

A flagger was directing traffic flow in a highway work zone. They were standing approximately 1.5 feet behind the shoulder's demarcating line, next to and slightly behind a traffic drum. As they were directing traffic into and out of the driveway of a parking lot, a car attempted to get around a truck and struck the traffic drum, which subsequently struck the employee, who was thrown 15 feet and landed on top of concrete aggregate. The employee suffered pelvic and rib fractures, T10 and L3 vertebra fractures, and internal bleeding.

An employee was troubleshooting a power washer in the field. Because there might have been water in its fuel, he brought it back to the shop and drained about a gallon of fuel from the tank into a plastic container. Some of the fuel spilled onto the floor and ignited. The employee was stomping out the fire when he lost his balance and tripped into a stool, which caused the plastic container to spill more fuel onto the fire. The employee's pants and shirt caught on fire, and he fell, abrading his knee while trying to get through the flames. As well as the knee abrasion, he suffered burns to the left leg and left lower quadrant of the torso. He was hospitalized.

An employee was backing up a tram (towing powered industrial equipment) to connect it to a trash bin. The employee's left forearm/wrist was caught and crushed between the tram and the bin. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee went to lift a carton and tripped on a different carton that was on the floor. She fell on the floor in the backroom and sustained a fractured right hip, and abrasions to her arm and knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.

An employee was conducting a delivery of beverage products and began having cramps due to dehydration. The employee was hospitalized.