Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Van Wyk, Inc., W4271 Cty Hwy W, WALDO, WISCONSIN 53093
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the head, unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was helping to secure materials on a truck when a tie-down strap flew back and hit the employee's head above the right eye. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was tossing a damaged toilet into a compactor. The toilet bounced off the compactor and lacerated the employee's right wrist, cutting an artery and tendon.
An employee was operating a hydraulic jack to bend a frame when the jack came loose and struck the employee. They were hospitalized for a spleen injury.
A truck had been towed into the shop with a flat tire and a blown airbag. An employee checked the tire for damage and was airing the tire. The employee was installing the valve core when the bead slipped off the rim. Air escaped, and the aluminum wheel struck the employee's head and face. The employee became unresponsive and was bleeding.
On December 14, 2023, at 8:40 p.m., three employees were inspecting milling machines for startup. A few of the sleeves on the mill drum needed to be changed out. The injured employee was trying to input a sleeve on the mill drum using a hammer. The hammer hit the edge of the drum, which caused a metal piece to splinter off and strike the employee's cheek just below the left eye. The metal splinter embedded in the back of their eye socket, resulting in pain, swelling, and bleeding that required hospitalization.
An employee was pushing a line of carts into a vestibule when the door cable snapped and struck his right ankle. The employee suffered a fracture that required surgery and hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 238110)
An employee was readjusting a safety hook to remove hardware from gang forms when his feet slipped. He fell to the ground, resulting in a broken left arm and wrist.
An employee was changing a boom pipe delivery system on a concrete pump truck. He tripped and fell from an elevated level to the ground, resulting in multiple leg fractures.
An employee was reading numbers off a belt that feeds a plant. He reached his hand up and the belt caught his finger, resulting in a finger amputation.
An employee was guiding the pouring end of a concrete pump truck's boom while standing on top of 4-foot wall forms. The boom contacted power lines and the employee was shocked. The employee sustained third-degree burns on the entry and exit path of the electricity, and also sustained first- and second-degree burns to their torso and legs.
An employee was holding a form board on a section of pavement. A skid steer backed into the employee's ankle, breaking it. The employee 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.