ASCEND PERFORMANCE MATERIALS LLC

An employee was troubleshooting a compound extrusion line. As they opened a vent, fumes from the stearic acid additive ignited when exposed to air, causing a flash fire. Molten plastic in the line contacted their lower face and neck, resulting in first- and second-degree burns. A face shield was not used at the time of the incident.

An opened valve sprayed hot, hexamethylene diamine (HMD) onto an employee, causing second-degree burns. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was struck in the back by a piece of a stainless steel organic solvent container that became over-pressurized and burst, suffering back lacerations. The container had at least 200 pounds of pressure and was full of liquid nitrogen at the time.

An employee was pressure testing a tanker truck and adjusting the tanker's wash-out cap when the cap contacted the employee's face. The employee suffered a broken jaw and lacerations to the chin.

An employee was handling fentanyl and lost consciousness.

An employee was opening a valve on a tank and came into contact with corrosive alkali liquids. The employee sustained chemical burns.

An employee bumped his elbow and sustained a bacterial infection.

An employee was loosening a hose from a rail car when the hose splashed sulfuric acid on the employee, causing chemical burns to the shoulder.

An employee contracted an infectious parasite while servicing a client.

Two employees were lifting a roll of steel poly bar (50 inches and approximately 150 pounds) from ground level to a height of 4 feet at the 66-inch rubber calendar. One employee dropped the roll, resulting in the poly bar contacting the injured employee's right knee. The employee was hospitalized with fractured right patella.

Employees were loading a 295-pound transformer onto a pickup truck using a forklift. The injured employee was acting as the spotter. The transformer hit the tailgate of the pickup truck and the spotter's right hand was struck by the transformer, resulting in amputation of the ring fingertip.

An employee was wearing full PPE while emptying a 55-gallon drum of phosphorus pentoxide and fainted, collapsing and striking their head against the ground. The employee was hospitalized and it is likely that heat caused by wearing full body PPE contributed to fainting.

An employee was troubleshooting a plug in the super-absorbent polymer line. The employee opened an inspection port and their right hand was caught in a rotary valve, resulting in the amputation of four fingers between the knuckle and the first joint.

An employee was conducting a quality control measure by taking a chemical sample for lab analysis. When the employee was opening the sample point, it broke off and crude 2-Ethylhexyl thioglycolate (EHTG) shot out at 265 degrees, and it covered the employee's legs and right arm and splashed the right side of their face. The employee was hospitalized with first- and second-degree burns to their right thigh, lower right knee, inner left thigh, and upper left forearm.

After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.

An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.

An employee was inspecting flares processes. The employee received burns to the front side of the body, face and arm from the flares.

An employee was removing plastic material from a production line when the machine cycled and amputated his left index, ring, and little fingers.

An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.