Western Recycling

An employee was sweeping up in an area near a cardboard baler. A forklift driver was driving through the warehouse with bales on the forks. The bales on the front left side of the forklift struck the employee, causing him to fall backward and hit his head on the ground. The employee was knocked unconscious and was hospitalized.

The forklift an employee was operating rolled and the employee sustained a head injury.

An employee was welding metal parts. The employee turned to the left and their work uniform came in contact with the location on the part that had just been welded. The employee's uniform ignited, causing burns to their shoulder and back.

An employee was using a small propane heater when they sustained third-degree burns to the left buttock and second-degree burns to the back and neck.

An employee was welding steel dump ramp slides. He leaned over and a previous weld caught his hoodie on fire. The employee sustained burns on his left side from the armpit to the waistline.

An employee was using a fiber wheel to cut a 55-gallon drum to make a trash can. As they were cutting, sparks flew into the barrel and fire came out of a hole on the barrel, catching the employee's shirt on fire. The employee sustained burns to their abdomen and chest, requiring hospitalization.

An employee was removing tubing caps and cleaning tubing ends with solvent. Their flame-resistant pants became soaked with the cleaning solvent and were ignited by a propane torch used for removing tubing caps. The employee was hospitalized with burns to their legs.

An employee was going into a trailer to mark product for shipment and the trailer pulled away from the dock. The employee fell out of the trailer, contacted the dock plate, and then fell to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a punctured lung, fractured ribs, and contusions.

An employee was checking on a machine outside of the building and removed a cover to clean out a blocked area. His hand was caught by a rotary valve in a dust collection machine. The employee's fingertip was amputated.

A shear operator's hand and fingers were caught in a machine's point of operation. The operator's right index finger was crushed and was partially medically amputated.

An employee was operating a forklift. He parked on a ramp and got off the forklift to retrieve material, at which point the forklift rolled backward and ran over his leg. The leg was broken and he was hospitalized, requiring surgery.

An employee was using a shear to cut metal when the blade cut his left ring finger and amputated his left little finger.

An employee tripped over a bin and fell to the floor. She landed on her hip and braced herself with her arm, resulting in a fractured hip and wrist.

An employee was diagnosing the lack of flow of product to a powder bin. The employee removed the rotary star valve below the bin. While he was reinstalling the valve, his right middle finger was crushed between its shaft and its housing. The finger was partially amputated.

An employee was standing on a multi-purpose ladder installing head flashing over a window. Their feet were approximately 6 feet off the ground and three rungs from the top. The employee lost their grip on the drill they were using and the ladder tipped over. The employee fell from the ladder to the ground, resulting in a fractured left wrist, bruised chest, and lacerations to their face and lip.

An employee was inspecting the overhead area of a single-person lift and repositioning the lift through a double doorway. As they were transitioning through the doorway, they were caught between the doorframe and the vertical mast of the lift. The employee was hospitalized with injuries to the nose, left maxillary sinus, left orbital bone, and left jaw, with fractures at the maxillary sinus area.

An employee was loading a 4-inch wooden door into a pickup truck when he felt a pop in his right side behind his shoulder blade. He was hospitalized later that day and underwent surgery, having suffered a collapsed right lung.