Wastewater Specialties, LLC

Five workers of two employers (Wastewater Specialties, LLC and Westlake Chemical Lake Charles South) were hospitalized when a flash fire in a vessel occurred. Two employees were on an elevated platform welding a flange onto a 54-inch segment of process piping at the quench tower. Three other workers were engaged in a hydro blasting operation. Employee 1 suffered head trauma, lacerations, and burns. Employee 2 suffered a lower leg/ankle injury. The other workers sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns to face and torso, and fractures to their arms and legs.

An employee was installing wood trim surrounding a skylight inside a home. While holding a piece of trim in it's desired location, his pneumatic nail gun discharged, sending a 3/4-inch pin nail into his left forearm.

An employee removed a safety valve on a trailer that unknowingly contained nitrogen gas. The gas released from the trailer and pushed the employee backward off a scaffold approximately 10 feet before they struck a garage door, resulting in a pelvic injury.

An employee was sitting at her workstation when a nail gun malfunctioned and shot a nail into her left leg. She suffered a puncture and blood vessel injury and was hospitalized.

On November 25, 2023, an employee was using a high-pressured water hose to perform sewer line cleaning operations. The employee's right little finger and palm were lacerated by pressurized water from the hose.

An employee was hydroblasting when they slipped and the pressurized water stream lacerated their left ankle.

An employee was operating a hammer drill when his glove got tangled in the drill and his little finger was amputated.

The employee was working in the back of a micro truck and maneuvering around the materials in the back of the truck. The employee's foot caught on the edge of the truck, causing him to lose balance and fall from the back of the truck to the ground approximately 3.5 to 4 feet below. The employee landed on his feet on the loading dock but rolled his ankle. The employee was hospitalized with a compound fracture of the ankle.

An employee was assisting the operator of a soil sampling rig to collect soil samples. He went to remove soil sampling tooling and the energized equipment cycled. His right index fingertip was amputated including the fingernail.

A truck driver was loading a second roll-off container onto a two-box trailer. He was operating the hydraulic control levers with his left hand, and was holding the D-ring in place on the exterior of the trailer while letting slack out of the winch cable. The employee's right little finger became pinched between the winch cable and the structure of the trailer. The employee required surgical amputation of the distal phalanx.

An employee was sampling a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit by opening a valve and placing a proving tube inside to collect the sample. The sample taken is a hot gas mixture. When the sample was collected, the flange came undone and fell due to the pressure. The employee sustained an amputation to their right middle fingertip.

A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.

A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.

A security employee was holstering her firearm when the gun discharged a bullet into her right leg. The employee was hospitalized.

A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.

An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.