Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode · Other respiratory system symptoms-toxic, noxious, or allergenic effect
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Mechanical Services, Main Street, PRESQUE ISLE, MAINE 04769
on — Other respiratory system symptoms-toxic, noxious, or allergenic effect, affecting the bODY SYSTEMS.
Final narrative
A employee was replacing a failed expansion valve on a refrigerated display case. He was soldering a copper pipe when a small amount of refrigerant in the pipe expanded when heated and flashed. He started coughing and had a runny nose, requiring hospitalization for respiratory irritation.
An employee was passing through a building when she suffered an allergic reaction to a cinnamon air freshener. The employee began to feel dizzy and ill, ultimately becoming unresponsive. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee wearing a blasting hood was preparing to blast inside a tank. The line that supplies the hood with breathing air was plugged into an argon line. The employee breathed the argon gas and fell. The employee was hospitalized for argon poisoning.
An employee was preparing a pump for maintenance. When the employee removed a cover, chemicals were released into the air. The employee was exposed to hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan and 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.
An employee was climbing a ladder to inspect a vent in a restaurant dining area. The ladder slid out on the floor and the employee fell approximately 12 feet onto the ladder and the floor. He was hospitalized with a dislocated shoulder and a back injury.
An employee was operating a lift truck when it struck a stationary lift truck. His left thumb was pinched between the two lift trucks, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was disassembling a pressurized unit using a driver drill. When the unit was disassembled, it caused a kickback from the tube head, causing the drill to strike the employee's left forearm. They sustained a diaphyseal fracture to their left radius and ulna, which required surgery.
After repairing a piece of industrial equipment, an employee had brake-cleaning liquid on his gloves. A lighter ignited the liquid, and the employee's hands were severely burned.
A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.
Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was standing on a step stool, removing the nuts and bolts from the frame of a solar panel that was being replaced. The employee's cheek made contact with a connector with damaged insulation. The employee was shocked, briefly lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, suffering an injury to the left shoulder.