Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Dietary Pros, Inc., 7111 Stewart Ave., WAUSAU, WISCONSIN 54401
on — Heat (thermal) burns, unspecified, affecting the multiple body parts, n.e.c..
Final narrative
Two employees were adding magnesium powder into an industrial mixer. An explosion occurred in the mixer, causing a small fire and smoke; one employee suffered burns to the face, hands, and wrists.
HospitalizedMultiple body parts, n.e.c.Special process machinery, n.e.c.
An employee was sitting in the cab of the truck while waste oxidizer was being offloaded. The waste reacted with the receiving tank and an explosion occurred in the tank. Fire traveled through the hose to the tanker truck, causing it to explode. The employee jumped from the burning truck and was hospitalized with burns to his face, chest, and arms.
An employee was installing piping and valves for fire protection systems in the vicinity of an electrical meter outside of a new warehouse. The meter exploded, causing burns to the employee's face and arms.
An employee was pouring molten aluminum into a drain pot. The aluminum touched moisture at the bottom of the drain pot and an explosion occurred. The employee sustained burns to their face, hands, and legs.
An employee was operating an oxygen-deficient oven that required manual ignition to make charcoal from wood. As the oven was opened, oxygen was introduced to the environment, resulting in an explosion. The employee sustained head trauma as well as fractures to the arms and legs.
An employee was setting up the electrical parts for a fireworks display. They were inserting an e-match when it generated friction with something else. A 3-inch firework shell ignited, injuring the employee's hand and head.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 325412)
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.
An employee was walking on the sidewalk. When they stepped off the curb, they fell to the ground, resulting in fractures to their tibia, fibula, and a metatarsal.
An employee opened a flammables storage cabinet to get something out, smelled a chemical odor, and began to feel unwell and dizzy. She was hospitalized, having been exposed to formic acid from a leaking bottle at the bottom of the cabinet.
The injured employee was cleaning a pre-mix blend from a high-speed mixer. Another employee working in the same room opened the pneumatic valve for the machine. The injured employee's right forearm was crushed in the mixer when the discharge valve closed. He was hospitalized.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.