Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Barry Callebaut USA, LLC, 4863 Hanoverville Rd, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA 18020
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the back, including spine, spinal cord, unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was operating a turret truck that hit a piece of wood. While bending to retrieve the wood, he felt pain in his back. He was hospitalized.
HospitalizedBack, including spine, spinal cord, unspecifiedBodily motion or position of injured, ill worker
An employee was attempting to unjam a cocoa shell process machine when their left hand got caught in the machine, resulting in partial amputations of the middle and ring fingers.
An employee was wrapping plastic around a pallet when they tripped over a leg of a conveyor system, fell, and hit their head on the concrete floor, resulting in hematoma. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was helping a mechanic diagnose a problem with an airlock. The mechanic had the airlock open to access the fan that was inside. The employee attempted to clear cocoa powder that was stuck in the port with his finger. The running airlock fan propeller then amputated his right index fingertip.
An employee was transporting a patient to their residence. The employee bent down to grab a stretcher and felt a pop in their back. The employee sustained a herniation of their L4-L5 disc.
On November 18, 2023, at approximately 8:30 a.m., an employee was loading products onto a delivery truck. The employee lost footing and sustained a torn hamstring and a hematoma with nerve damage to his foot/leg.
An employee was carrying a pipe when it slipped from their hand. As they reached to grab it while it was falling, they felt a muscle pull. The employee was hospitalized for an abdominal hernia.
On August 21, 2023, an employee was reaching for product on the shelf in the cooler when their back gave out. The employee was hospitalized for an exacerbation of bulging disks.
An employee was going down a ramp to a basement to assist in cleanup efforts. The ramp had been closed to vehicle traffic all day, as it was slippery. The employee was halfway down the ramp when a forklift drove onto it, then slid down the ramp and struck him. The employee suffered a spinal fracture and was hospitalized.
An employee was clearing a jam and making an adjustment to a machine using the exit wheel. Their right thumb was caught in the machine and they sustained a partial amputation to the thumb tip.
An employee was pushing a bag that was stuck in the bag sealing machine when their right thumb became caught in one of the back wheels, resulting in an amputation of the thumb tip.
An employee was getting chocolate product from the outfeed of a wrapping machine when the rotating elevator that pushes wrapped chocolate onto the outfeed ramp caught her right middle fingertip, resulting in a partial fingertip amputation. The machine was guarded and in operation at the time of the incident.
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.