RICELAND FOODS

An employee was shoveling loose grain that had fallen onto the ground from the hopper of a semi-truck and was placing it on a conveyor belt. The employee stepped onto the unguarded conveyor belt and sustained a compound fracture to the right lower leg. The conveyor belt guard was damaged by the semi-truck when it drove over the extension (pigtail) of the conveyor belt earlier in the day.

An employee was walking though the warehouse and was struck by a forklift resulting in an open fracture of the right ankle. She was hospitalized.

An employee was trying to free a screw that was clogged with rice hulls. The employee shut off the power to the screw and went to pull on the belt that was connected to the pulley that ran the screw. While the employee was pulling on the belt, the screw became free. The stored energy from the bound screw caused the belt and pulley to rotate while the employee was holding the belt. The employee's left index finger entered the pinch point of the belt and pulley, amputating the left fingertip above the nail cuticle.

An employee was climbing into the cab of a farm tractor. When the employee reached the top step of the tractor, the employee's hand slipped off the handle. The employee fell and hit the bottom step, suffering a head contusion and requiring overnight hospitalization.

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.

An employee was trying to redistribute the load on his trailer by adjusting/sliding the tandem wheels on the rear of the trailer. He started to pull the air release valve to release the pins, lost his balance, and had to put his hand on the tandem frame rail. The rail system caught and amputated the tip of his right middle finger.

An employee was getting the barge ready for a load of soy beans. The employee opened the top door of the grain barge and lost his balance, falling 10 to 14 ft. to the bottom of the barge and resulting in blunt force trauma and multiple broken bones.

On December 23, 2020, an employee was cleaning overhead piping using an extended brush on an 8-foot A-frame ladder. The ladder began to tip and the employee fell to the floor, suffering two broken bones in the ankle that required surgery.

An employee was watching the flow of product in a meal load sampler. The automatic sampler in the machine struck the employee's left arm, causing a break that required hospitalization and surgery.

An employee was riding a belted man lift when his fall protection became caught in the man lift. The employee fell approximately 8 feet and broke his lower left leg. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was operating an ironworker (steel punching/shearing) machine. A piece of the tooling broke off and struck the employee's neck; a fragment was lodged in his neck. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.

On October 25, 2025, an employee was stringing up a new reel of tire tread on a machine. The employee pulled a 6-inch tail and proceeded to spool up the liner. As the machine was jogged to begin the liner wrapping process, the liner caught the employee's glove and pulled their right arm into the liner, causing a fracture to the arm.

An employee was doing a cable change on top of an electric overhead traveling (EOT) crane. They were positioned between the cable drum and the drive shaft. While rotating the cable drum, the employee reached for the new cable that was to be installed. The grease fitting on the drive shaft caught their fall harness and pulled them underneath the drive shaft. The employee was pinned between the drive shaft and two pieces of angle steel, resulting in a fracture to their left hip.

An employee was helping two other employees to push a pallet of tile on a loading dock. He suffered a broken fibula and was hospitalized.

On October 5, 2025, an employee was pulling a pressure washer hose when it it disconnected from the cooker. The employee was struck by jets of high-pressure water, resulting in lacerations to their left thigh requiring surgery. The employee was hospitalized.