Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Penn State University, Physical plant Building , STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA 16801
on — Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds, affecting the abdomen, except internal location of diseases or disorders.
Final narrative
An employee was cutting plywood on a table saw when a piece of plywood kicked back and struck the employee's abdomen, puncturing it.
HospitalizedAbdomen, except internal location of diseases or disordersPlywood, wood paneling; particle, chip, flake board
An employee was cleaning the rear window of a tractor while standing on the hitch bars and fell. The employee fractured three ribs and sustained a hemothorax on the right side.
An employee was descending from the 6th to the 5th floor when she fell down the stairs. She fractured her elbow and cut her head, requiring hospitalization.
An employee was tossing a damaged toilet into a compactor. The toilet bounced off the compactor and lacerated the employee's right wrist, cutting an artery and tendon.
An employee was operating a hydraulic jack to bend a frame when the jack came loose and struck the employee. They were hospitalized for a spleen injury.
A truck had been towed into the shop with a flat tire and a blown airbag. An employee checked the tire for damage and was airing the tire. The employee was installing the valve core when the bead slipped off the rim. Air escaped, and the aluminum wheel struck the employee's head and face. The employee became unresponsive and was bleeding.
On December 14, 2023, at 8:40 p.m., three employees were inspecting milling machines for startup. A few of the sleeves on the mill drum needed to be changed out. The injured employee was trying to input a sleeve on the mill drum using a hammer. The hammer hit the edge of the drum, which caused a metal piece to splinter off and strike the employee's cheek just below the left eye. The metal splinter embedded in the back of their eye socket, resulting in pain, swelling, and bleeding that required hospitalization.
An employee was pushing a line of carts into a vestibule when the door cable snapped and struck his right ankle. The employee suffered a fracture that required surgery and hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 611310)
An employee was removing boxes of filters from a skid when he tripped on a manual pallet jack. The employee fell and struck his back on the base of the pallet jack, resulting in hospitalization with fractured ribs.
An employee was walking through a parking garage. She tripped over a curb and fell forward onto her right knee, then her left knee, both hands, and her face. She suffered an injury to the left knee that required surgery, as well as scrapes on the chin and both palms and soreness in the left wrist.
An employee was using a hose to clear storm drains after a sewer backup. The employee fell backward and his head struck the curb, resulting in an Injury on the right side of his head, generalized bruising, and pain in his left ankle, right hip, left shoulder, and neck. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working on an exhaust fan on the roof when he tripped on a wire and fell to the ground. The employee sustained scrapes on his elbow, and a fractured right knee with a torn ACL. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was replacing the back bracket on a deep fryer when her screwdriver slipped, causing her to fall forward into hot oil. She suffered burns on both arms up to the elbows (including the hands and fingers), as well as on the face and neck. She was hospitalized.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.