Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at USHydrations, 164 Commerce Road, PITTSTON, PENNSYLVANIA 18640
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
A forklift operator was attempting to move a single stack of pallets (22 high). Behind the single stack of pallets was a double stack of pallets (44 high). As the forklift lifted the single stack of pallets, a pallet in the double stack of pallets became dislodged. The double stack of pallets fell down over the top of the single stack of pallets, over the forklift mast, and onto the forklift operator's cab enclosure. As the pallets fell onto the forklift, the forklift operator reacted by putting his hands up and his fingers went through the grated enclosure. A falling pallet struck and severed the employee's right ring finger.
An employee was moving a piece of an I-beam for welding when it rolled off the cribbing. The employee went to catch it when it fell and crushed the employee's finger, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was helping to disassemble large reels used to store steel wire when a 264-pound flange from the reel fell over onto the employee's left leg. The employee sustained multiple fractures to their leg and ligament injuries to the lower leg.
The injured employee was putting away materials on the warehouse floor as a co-worker was pushing a pallet onto a nearby shelf. The pallet knocked another pallet forward, causing it to fall onto the injured employee's shoulders. The employee suffered fractures in their right and left knees and ankles.
Employees were moving a single man lift into a building and reclining the lift to position it to fit through the door. The lift shifted and fell, causing the employee to sustain fractures to the left tibia and fibula. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery.
An employee was moving a light tower so it could be hitched to a truck. He grabbed the tongue of the trailer hitch on the light tower to slide it to the left. The tongue jack fell off, causing the light tower tongue to drop on the employee's right hand. The employee's middle fingertip was amputated.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 312112)
A mechanic was performing a modular overhaul on a blower. While removing magnetic rods for the stretch rod, the employee was placing the second rod on the blower platform. The rods were magnetically attracted to one another, and the employee's left third and fourth fingers were pinched between them. She was hospitalized and sustained a partial amputation.
An employee was conducting maintenance on the bag in box (BIB) palletizer machine when the motor chain jumped, pulling his right index finger into the chain drive attached to the motor and causing a fingertip amputation.
An employee was clearing a piece of tape from the tape dispenser when their hand contacted the cutting implement on the dispenser. The employee suffered the amputation of their right index finger.
An employee was troubleshooting a bottle machine because the nozzle was stuck in the up position. The employee went to check for pre-blow air and the nozzle dropped back down to its starting position, catching his right index fingertip against the mold base. The employee sustained a fingertip amputation to the first digit.
An employee was attempting to clear a bottle jam when they were pinned to the wall by the arm of a robotic bottle stacker. The employee sustained an abdominal injury that required hospitalization. The machine was not guarded at the time.
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.