Cherokee Brick and Tile Company

On January 1, 2025, an employee was operating a capstan to move kiln cars along tracks. The rope of the capstan became twisted and the employee went to manually untangle it. As the rope tightened, his left ring finger was caught, resulting in partial amputation of the fingertip.

An employee was rotating bricks on a kiln car so an unloading head could pick them up and place them on a conveyor belt for packaging. During this process, the unloading head descended onto the employee's legs, causing fractures to both legs.

An employee was removing dust from the hooking clasp (called a dog) on a kiln car on a tram and amputated his right index finger.

An employee was using a capstan and rope. The rope got caught, and the employee attempted to untangle it. The employee's hand was caught between the rope and the capstan spool while wearing a glove. His fingertip was degloved.

An employee was climbing a step ladder while carrying a 3-foot piece of conduit. As he went to reposition his feet on the ladder by pivoting, he slipped and fell from the third rung of a 6-foot ladder. The employee sustained fractures to the left femur, right elbow, and right ring finger.

An employee was descending a 4-step maintenance stand when she missed the bottom step and fell to the hangar floor. The employee suffered a left hip fracture.

An employee stopped a belt and was going to check it for missing packages. She fell backward 3-4 feet from an elevated platform and sustained a broken right arm.

An employee had just finished a routine concrete pour and was ascending the ladder to clean the concrete mixer truck. The employee lost their grip and fell approximately 2-3 feet, contacting the truck's bumper. The employee suffered rib fractures and a punctured lung.

An employee was performing duties as an expeditor. After opening the dock door, the employee scanned the barcode on the door of the truck and placed one foot on the truck and one foot on the dock. The truck drove out of the stall, causing the employee to fall 4 feet off the dock onto the concrete. The employee sustained fractures to the right side of the pelvis, elbow, and a left ring fingertip as well as injuries to the right wrist and bruising to the back and stomach.

An employee was operating a slab line in a plant that produces 16" x 9" x 3" concrete slabs that weigh approximately 25-30 pounds. The employee went to adjust the chain and sprocket for the doubler that stacks the slabs two high, when their right middle finger was caught in the machine. The employee sustained a partial transphalangeal amputation of the finger.

An employee was packaging brick. A brick broke from the bundle and became lodged between the conveyor rollers. The employee was removing the brick when the bundle of brick shifted forward, catching his left index finger between the bundle and the conveyor roller and resulting in a partial amputation to the fingertip.

An employee was observing the operation of the stacker machine and climbed onto a platform to align bricks in the stacker. While the employee was on the platform, the machine cycled, striking and pinning him to the chain conveyor. The employee suffered abrasions on his arms and hairline fractures of his pelvis.

An employee was picking up broken bricks from the floor to throw into a hopper. A forklift reversed, and its counterweight struck the employee. The employee suffered a broken left foot, as well as injuries to the leg and ankle, and was hospitalized.

An employee was removing a belt from a motor on an extruder when his finger was pinched by the belt, resulting in an amputation to the first knuckle.

An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.

A casting machine jammed. An employee's hand was caught in the machine, where a belt line caught and amputated the tip of his finger.

During a workshop meeting in a hotel, an employee heard a drilling noise, so he walked outside to see what it was. An explosion occurred (possible gas line) and his face, ear, and hair were burned. He also fell and sustained a pelvic fracture.

An employee slipped on condensation on a walkway in a parking garage. She fell and suffered a closed fracture to the neck of the left femur.

An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.