Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at U.S. Forest Service, Forest Area, SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO 88061
on — Intracranial injuries, unspecified, affecting the brain.
Final narrative
An employee was clearing out land to install a fence around a perimeter when the employee suffered a possible head injury.
An employee was prepping a surface while on the roof when they fell approximately 13-16 feet. The fall propelled the employee up and forward onto a T-post and their eye/skull was impaled. The employee sustained injuries to their eyes, face, and feet.
On September 25, 2023, an employee was working in the body department installing doors, hoods, and tailgates. The employee finished their shift and was hospitalized later that evening for a back injury.
After completing a fitness test, an employee experienced lower leg pain and an inability to walk. The employee was hospitalized for compartment syndrome in both legs.
An employee was cutting up a large tree that had blown down on a rocky ledge on a hill. He began cutting on the uphill side of the tree, but due to obstructions he had to move to the downhill side. The tree separated from its 7-foot root ball, which started sliding toward him. While attempting to get out of the way, he tripped and fell to the ground, striking his head on an unknown object. As the root ball continued to move toward the employee, he made it below the level of the rock ledge. The root ball rolled over when it reached the ledge and pinned the employee's lower leg, and broke his fibula. He also suffered scrapes and bruises from the fall.
An employee was walking on a trail in a national park and stepped onto an angled and flat slab of granite when her ankle rolled and her weight shifted, but she did not fall. She was hospitalized with a fractured tibia and fibula and a dislocated ankle.
An employee was offroad, looking for a lost hiker. The employee fell off a canyon rim edge and landed on rimrock 5 or 6 feet below, suffering a separated shoulder and a head injury that required stitches. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was preparing to conduct maintenance on a riding lawn mower and lifted the mower deck upward to its vertical position with assistance from another employee. A third employee pulled a locking pin, causing the front wheel mount to move forward into the cab. The cab entrance hand hold crushed the little fingers on the injured employee's hands. The employee was hospitalized and required surgical amputation of the right little finger to the second joint, as well as debriding and stitches to the left little finger.
An employee was servicing an exterior mounted environmental control unit while on a 10-foot ladder. He pushed through a pre-made knockout hole on the panel. Upon bringing his arm down, a sharp area along the panel frame lacerated the top of his hand. The employee required surgery.
On 7/31/2025, an employee was training to ride an ATV when it went into a draw and she went over the front of the ATV, landing on the ground. The employee sustained a fractured arm.
An employee was standing behind a frac pump. A discharge hose failed and the employee was burned by hot water on the left upper abdomen. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee working as a contracted firefighter was using a bulldozer to push back an active fire line when they became entrapped in flames, resulting in first- and second-degree burns.
An employee was assisting with the delivery of pipe racks to the drilling rig. The driver was releasing the tie-down lock straps that were holding the pipe racks on the trailer. When the last strap was released, one of the pipe racks rolled off the trailer and struck the employee while they were on the passenger side of the trailer bed. The employee sustained an open wound to the hand and fractures to their left leg and spine.