Fall through surface or existing opening 16 to 20 feet · Pneumonia
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Electric Boat, 75 Eastern Point Road, GROTON, CONNECTICUT 06340
on — Pneumonia, affecting the lung(s), pleura.
Final narrative
A painter working in the sonar dome of a submarine was power washing in a confined space when they fell three levels (approximately 20 feet) through a 2' x 4' access hole. The employee lost consciousness and suffered a contusion to the back of the head and pneumonia from inhaled water.
A 6-foot piece of steel weighing approximately 1,300 pounds was being hoisted, when it slipped from the rigging and fell from approximately 8 feet, striking a machine and then striking an employee in the leg. The employee's leg was fractured.
After performing a welding operation inside of a tank, an employee was exiting the tank when his leg caused a welding lead to short against the side of the tank and an electric arc occurred. His leg was burned, requiring hospitalization.
An employee had put a pipe in a vise and was adjusting the flange to insert a ring into the unit. The unit slipped from the vise; as the pipe fell and the employee tried to grab it, the vise pinched the employee's finger. He suffered a fingertip amputation on his left hand.
An employee was adjusting a vice on a drill press table when the device shifted, causing his left pinky finger to become caught between the key slot and the fixture. A chunk of flesh was removed.
On November 16, 2023, at around 3:30 p.m., a subcontracted employee was painting a door jam on a three-story house when he fell 20 feet through an opened elevator shaft to the floor below. The employee sustained fractured vertebrae that required hospitalization.
Employees were removing and replacing skylights on a metal roof. The injured employee's lanyard became tangled and they fell through the skylight to the ground 16-18 feet below. The employee suffered fractures to the wrist, ribs, and hip.
An employee was requested by a client to string wire on top of an auditorium. He used a boom lift to access a beam and then exited the boom lift to walk on the beam. He then stepped down on a drop ceiling, lost balance, and fell. The drop ceiling caved in and the employee fell 20 feet onto bleachers sustaining injury to his abdominal area and lower left leg. The employee was wearing a harness, but it was not connected to an anchoring point at the time of the fall.
An employee was installing decking (steel grates) in a new construction steel framed building. The employees were working approximately 22' above the next lower level, which was a concrete ground floor. The decking was pre-cut with the floor opening prior to installation. Shortly after installing the floor opening, the employee fell through the floor opening, approximately 18' onto a section of metal ductwork, resulting in fractures to the skull, ribs, thorax, and lumbar vertebra, as well as an ear laceration.
An employee was taking measurements of an area for drywall when they stepped backward into a partially covered hole in the floor. The employee fell approximately 17 feet to the level below, sustaining a forehead fracture and avulsion, a right shoulder dislocation, a left forearm fracture, left knee tendon and meniscus tears, as well as multiple contusions and abrasions.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 336611)
An employee was hooking up bundled tie-downs with a chain. While he was holding a hook, the other hook was unlocked. This caused the employee's hook to slide down and pinch his right index finger between the chain and the shackle. He suffered an amputation to the fingertip (without bone loss), as well as an open fracture.
An employee was preparing to bend a flat bar in a brake press. When the machine was jogged, the stock rotated up and crushed his left middle fingertip against the outer frame of the die. The fingertip was amputated.
An employee was cutting metal with a torch. A piece of metal struck the employee's left foot, causing multiple fractures to metatarsal(s). The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was descending a ladder carrying a bag of trash. He fell, landed on the ground about 10 feet below, and suffered fractures to his right hip and pelvis.
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.
An employee was working to clean a glue roller with a scraper tool. The tool and the employee's left thumb were pinched between two rollers, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was re-arranging boxes of pipe insulation on a pallet. One of the boxes fell from the pallet and knocked over an upright empty cylinder. The cylinder fell and crushed the tip of the employee's right toe. The employee's toe required surgical amputation.
An employee was securing the claw of a grapple truck to the truck bed. His left little finger was caught between the tie down strap and the rub rail of the truck, resulting in partial amputation of the finger.
An employee was cutting extruded aluminum framing material using a horizontal band saw. She went to grab a rag in the machine when the rag contacted the blade and pulled her hand in toward the blade, resulting in a partial amputation of the right index finger.