Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Asplundh Tree Expert Co., 38 Beaver Ridge Rd, FREEDOM, MAINE 04941
on — Amputations, affecting the arm(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee's right arm was crushed by a tree stub that fell back on the stump as the employee was pushing it. The employee's right arm was amputated.
At 9:30 a.m. on August 4, 2021, a two-person crew was trimming branches on a 36-foot locust tree using an elevator lift truck. An employee was in the elevated bucket of the boom truck using a stick saw. While he was lowering the boom to clear some hangers, the walking pin to the hydraulic cylinder failed. The upper boom and bucket fell about 7.9 feet, coming to rest on the top of the cab protection rack. The employee suffered a head laceration and was hospitalized.
An employee was trimming a pecan tree with a hand saw. He had climbed the tree and was pulling a limb back to cut it when the limb contacted power lines. The employee was shocked and suffered burns to both hands and both knees.
An employee was walking around his work truck on muddy terrain when he slipped and fell in the mud. His left hip struck a 6-inch tree stump and was broken.
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 561730)
An employee was helping to set up a mulch blowing truck when they were struck by an oncoming vehicle. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured knee, a concussion, and a head laceration; they also received stitches on their arm.
An employee was using a table saw to cut a piece of wood when the saw cut his thumb, index, and middle fingers. His index finger was amputated and he was hospitalized.
An employee was mowing a residential lawn at a client's house. The mower slid on the land and tipped over onto him. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured vertebra in the neck and partial paralysis.
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.