Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Kelly General Construction Company of Decatur, 2454 N 27th St, DECATUR, ILLINOIS 62526
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
On August 30, 2017, at approximately 2:15 p.m., an employee was transitioning a process air compressor from the vertical to the horizontal position when the employee's fingers were caught between the compressor's round housing and the internal tube section, amputating the left ring finger above the first knuckle and the left pinky fingertip.
Employees were putting the cap end back on an oil cooler that was sitting on wooden cribbing at ground level. They had to roll the unit on wooden blocks so a flange on the side of the cooler would not hit the cribbing. While an employee was moving the blocks using a short piece of 8-by-8, his left middle fingertip was caught and crushed between two blocks. The finger was partially amputated.
Two employees were aligning a head pulley with a tail pulley on a vertical leg/bucket conveyor. The injured employee was measuring the distance from the tail pulley to the plumbing string at the lower level when he was struck by a 2x2x6 angle iron weighing approximately 14.64 lbs. that came loose while the coworker, 130 feet above, was repositioning it. The angle iron fractured and severely lacerated his lower right leg, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
An employee was helping a forklift operator organize the yard, placing cribbing to be used under a steel angle iron, when he was struck by the forklift while it was backing up. He suffered a broken pelvis and internal injuries.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 236220)
The injured employee was standing behind a table. She jumped out to scare another employee, but tripped and fell on the tile floor, injuring her right ankle/foot. She was hospitalized with a dislocated ankle that required surgery.
An employee was installing insulation in a wall when she tripped on a hole (12" deep) and fell, hitting her head on the concrete floor. The employee sustained fractures to her leg and wrist, and lacerations to her head. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was loading a 4-inch wooden door into a pickup truck when he felt a pop in his right side behind his shoulder blade. He was hospitalized later that day and underwent surgery, having suffered a collapsed right lung.
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.