Overexertion in lifting-single episode · Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Thermo Fisher Scientific, 7554 Schantz Road, ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA 18106
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the lumbar region.
Final narrative
An employee was moving a box from a pallet to a shelf when she experienced severe pain in her lower back, requiring hospitalization.
An employee was mopping a floor when they stepped forward onto a section they just mopped and slipped, falling to the ground. The employee suffered a shattered kneecap.
The employee was crouched down to fix tape on the floor when they lost their balance and fell backward. The employee suffered a hyperextended left ankle that required surgery.
On March 23, 2022, an employee was operating a brake press. The employee's finger was caught between the rear gauge and the bottom die, and the fingertip was amputated.
At about 9:30 a.m. on March 31, 2021, an employee was backing an order picker through a narrow aisle, carrying empty pallets. The top few pallets struck a box, then struck the uprights of the high rack, and then struck the employee's left leg and pinned it against the order picker. The employee suffered severe contusions.
On 12/22/2023, an employee was carrying bins filled with pasta to a refrigerator. As he lifted a 20-pound bin, he felt pain in his lower back. The employee sustained a herniated disc.
An employee was lifting a patient when they pulled a back muscle. She suffered back pain and spasms radiating into her leg with weakness and numbness. The employee's L3-L4 disc was herniated and she was hospitalized.
An employee was lifting a bundle of insulation with a colleague when he felt severe pain in the right side of his lower back/hip region. The employee sustained a severe muscle injury.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 541990)
Employees were conducting a snubbing operation. While making up the tubing swivel onto the joint in the mouse hole, employee 2 proceeded to pull power tongs off the pipe. At the same time, the injured employee went to re-adjust the tong heads. The make/brake handle was pulled and the injured employee's right hand got caught in the tongs. The injured employee's index, middle, and ring fingers were amputated and he required surgery.
On 9/26/2025, an employee was using a pair of scissors to cut a zip-tie that was securing a box of files. The scissors slipped and lacerated the employee s left wrist. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was troubleshooting and rodding out a piece of process piping equipment when their left index finger was caught between the tool handle and threaded flange. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.