Ozark Empire Distributors

An employee was bagging bread at a bagger machine when it became jammed. As she attempted to unjam the machine, another employee activated the machine, which then amputated an eighth of an inch of her left index fingertip. The machine was not locked out at the time of the incident.

An employee and his colleagues were relocating a dough extruder with a forklift. While they were placing the extruder on a rolling platform, the extruder tipped and fell on the employee, who suffered a lower back contusion.

Employee's right ring finger was amputated after it came in contact with the blade on a bread divider. During a jam, a photo electric eye is supposed to shut the machine down. The photo electric eye malfunctioned as the employee reached into the machine resulting in the ring finger amputation.

An employee was preparing a tank car for loading while chipping away solidified product in the manway opening of the tank car. A pressure noise within the tank car startled the employee, causing him to stumble backward and fall approximately 10 feet over the guard railing at the chemical loading rack to the ground. The employee suffered fractured vertebrae, a fractured right wrist and ankle, and a dislocated jaw.

An employee was installing an electrical tray remover from a ladder. As he was descending, his missed a step and fell 6-7 feet to the floor. The employee suffered a head injury.

Two employees were installing spray foam insulation in the attic of a new residential construction. The injured employee fell 8 feet from an A-frame ladder to the floor. The employee suffered lacerations, abrasions, and a head injury.

An employee was on a raised platform attaching wires to electrical boxes. The employee fell approximately 8 feet to the floor below and struck an exit sign on the way down, resulting in an injury to his face.

An employee was in a forklift man basket fixing a garage door opener when they fell approximately 8 feet to the concrete ground below. The employee suffered head and back injuries as well as kidney bruising.

An employee (who had recently walked through water accumulated on the floor) slipped and fell to the floor. The employee suffered a broken right wrist and right elbow and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.

An employee was performing maintenance on a production line, requiring a testing and positioning phase for the whipped cream dispensers. The employee was positioning the dispensers using wrenches when one of the sensors was triggered by the pie pans coming down the line. The depositor heads lowered and pinched the employee's left ring finger, resulting in an amputated fingertip. The whipped cream dispensers were not guarded at the time and the line was not locked out/tagged out.

During a line changeover, an employee was rinsing a depositor with water. The employee was working to remove a piece of chocolate, stuck in the machine's roller, when the roller's moving parts caught his middle finger. He suffered an amputation to the fingertip with bone loss.

An employee was emptying a trash can into a dumpster. He tripped while turning around, fell over a rail onto the concrete floor, and broke bones in his back and wrist.

During a changeover, an employee was wiping down the dough chunker machine and the chunker closed on his left hand. The employee sustained crushing/laceration injuries, requiring hospitalization and surgery.

An employee was operating an ironworker (steel punching/shearing) machine. A piece of the tooling broke off and struck the employee's neck; a fragment was lodged in his neck. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.

On October 25, 2025, an employee was stringing up a new reel of tire tread on a machine. The employee pulled a 6-inch tail and proceeded to spool up the liner. As the machine was jogged to begin the liner wrapping process, the liner caught the employee's glove and pulled their right arm into the liner, causing a fracture to the arm.

An employee was doing a cable change on top of an electric overhead traveling (EOT) crane. They were positioned between the cable drum and the drive shaft. While rotating the cable drum, the employee reached for the new cable that was to be installed. The grease fitting on the drive shaft caught their fall harness and pulled them underneath the drive shaft. The employee was pinned between the drive shaft and two pieces of angle steel, resulting in a fracture to their left hip.

An employee was helping two other employees to push a pallet of tile on a loading dock. He suffered a broken fibula and was hospitalized.

On October 5, 2025, an employee was pulling a pressure washer hose when it it disconnected from the cooker. The employee was struck by jets of high-pressure water, resulting in lacerations to their left thigh requiring surgery. The employee was hospitalized.