Contact with hot objects or substances · Second degree heat (thermal) burns
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at EHC Industries, Inc. , University of Chicago Cummings Science Buld, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60637
on — Second degree heat (thermal) burns, affecting the leg(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On June 29, 2018, an employee fell into a trench containing hot fluids (150 degrees F) and sustained second degree burns to the legs requiring hospitalization.
On July 11, 2018, an employee was working from a mobile scaffold, about 12 feet above a concrete floor, to remove asbestos. He fell to the floor, fracturing his wrist and hip. The scaffold's guardrails had been removed at the time of the incident.
An employee connected a steam line to a hose to clean equipment when the fitting broke loose. They were struck by steam in the left inner thigh, resulting in burns that required hospitalization.
An employee was making tea when she noticed tea grinds were collecting on the side and water was no longer dripping through the funnel. The employee was checking the funnel when boiling water and tea grinds spilled onto the left side of her body. The employee sustained burns to her neck, back, and arm.
An employee had turned off the ball valve on a waterpipe system and was removing the plug when the coupling system attached to the strainer came apart. Hot water sprayed on his arm and back, resulting in first- and second-degree burns that required surgery.
An employee was using a shovel to remove waste vermiculite from molten zinc. The metal had been placed in a bin and partially hardened. The employee broke through the partially hardened metal; still-molten metal flowed to the employee's steel-toed right boot and entered through the cloth boot tongue. The employee suffered a third-degree burn to the right foot and was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 562910)
An employee was working to assess the operation of a high-pressure water nozzle. The water system was activated and the employee was cut by high pressure water on his left hand where the palm meets the wrist. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working to push items in a trailer dumpster with his feet; his back was against a building wall. He fell to the concrete ground, resulting in fractures.
An employee was guiding a high-pressure water hose through a 4-inch gap on a horizontal condensing tube when the hose blew apart. The hose left the opening and the fitting at the end of it struck the employee on the side of his face. The employee sustained blunt force trauma to the left side of his head, including a laceration from his left temple through his ear.
On July 24, 2025, an employee was shoveling material when a piece of steel slag fell from a nearby furnace and struck them in the back. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their thoracic vertebrae and a metatarsal.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.