Harcros Chemicals, Inc.

An employee was introducing an air sparge to an atmospheric blending vessel which contained sodium glucoheptonate (SGH) mother liquid heated to approximately 210 degrees Fahrenheit. The employee opened a valve to introduce air at the base of the vessel and rise through the vessel contents. The valve was stuck and when the handle broke free it turned further than desired and released more air than intended. The air rising through the vessel caused the SGH mother liquid to splash out of a 23-inch diameter manhole in the top of the vessel approximately 11 feet above the employee. The heated liquid fell onto the employee causing first- and second-degree thermal burns to his back.

An employee was working with a wrench. The employee fell backward into a valve, suffering an injury that required hospitalization.

While opening a valve an employee was splashed with chemicals and sustained chemical burns to the right leg, right arm, and face.

An employee was moving a pallet jack from a loading dock onto a trailer when the pallet jack became stuck in a gap between the dock and the trailer. The employee attempted to pull the jack free of the gap when his hand became pinched in the equipment, resulting in a partial amputation of the right index finger.

An employee was washing out a tank with hot water that was about 130 to 140 degrees. The hot water scalded his back, resulting in third degree burns.

An employee was passing through a building when she suffered an allergic reaction to a cinnamon air freshener. The employee began to feel dizzy and ill, ultimately becoming unresponsive. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee wearing a blasting hood was preparing to blast inside a tank. The line that supplies the hood with breathing air was plugged into an argon line. The employee breathed the argon gas and fell. The employee was hospitalized for argon poisoning.

An employee was preparing a pump for maintenance. When the employee removed a cover, chemicals were released into the air. The employee was exposed to hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan and was hospitalized.

An employee was exposed to carbon monoxide that was leaking from a kiln. The employee lost consciousness and was hospitalized.

An employee was inside a trailer with a running lawn mower and sustained carbon monoxide poisoning.

An employee was servicing a bypass feeder system. The system released hot water onto the employee, resulting in first- and second-degree burns to his face, chest, right arm, and both hands.

An employee was cleaning a formic acid hose with water when formic acid splashed his right shoulder, both arms, and his face under his face shield. He was hospitalized.

A driver had just climbed out of a truck. He stepped back to close the door and his foot went into a low spot on the ground. He fell backward onto an incline, rolled, and suffered a compound fracture to the wrist. He was hospitalized, requiring surgery.

An employee was walking between two tanks when he stepped into a sump pit that was missing its metal grate. His leg was submerged in sulfuric acid, and he suffered chemical burns to the lower part of his right foot. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was delivering pool chemicals from a tanker truck when the pipe connection broke. The employee sustained chemical burns from the sodium hypochlorite.

After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.

An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.

An employee was inspecting flares processes. The employee received burns to the front side of the body, face and arm from the flares.

An employee was removing plastic material from a production line when the machine cycled and amputated his left index, ring, and little fingers.

An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.