Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at M.A. Mortenson Company, Mesquite Creek Wind Farm, 2412 County road West, LAMESA, TEXAS 79331
on — Fractures, affecting the lumbar region.
Final narrative
An employee was holding a tagline during a lifting operation at a wind farm when a crop duster aircraft flew between the wind tower and tagline that the employee was holding. The aircraft struck the tagline, which caused the employee to be lifted into the air and subsequently land on his back on the ground. He suffered a fractured L1 vertebra.
An employee was lifting a 50-pound photovoltaic (PV) panel from a horizontal stack of PV panels on a pallet on the ground. The next panel in the stack tipped forward and hit the employee below the left kneecap, breaking the employee's lower leg.
Employees were conducting warranty repair on a residential sidewalk. A skid steer was being used to remove dirt while a section of sidewalk was repaired. A heavy clod of dirt from the skid steer struck one of the employees, breaking the employee's left leg.
While adjusting the forks of a forklift that were resting on a flatbed trailer, something shifted and the employee's left arm was crushed. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working in bucket truck with a helicopter that had a suspended load. The load struck the employee and he was hospitalized with a broken arm, which required surgery.
An employee was performing firefighting duties on the ground when a helicopter above the employee dropped water onto the ground as a fire retardant. The employee was struck by the water, resulting in a broken jaw and facial lacerations. The employee also sustained lacerations to the right thumb and wrist that required stitches and left knee fractures as well as general bruising to the entire body.
An employee was providing care to a patient aboard a fixed wing aircraft in transport to the hospital. The aircraft encountered clear air turbulence and the employee struck the cabin ceiling causing brain and spine contusions.
An employee was hanging on a long line from a helicopter, clipping in travels on the arms of a transmission mono pole, when the helicopter maneuvered the employee into a three-phase distribution line. The employee suffered an electrical shock to the hip and buttocks, and later required amputation of the left arm from the elbow.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 237130)
An employee was terminating cables in a junction box. A loose ground wire came into contact with the bushing, causing a flash that burned the right side of the employee's face and his right hand.
An employee was using a bucket truck hoist to raise secondary aerial wiring. The wire made contact with the primary wire, causing an arc flash. The employee suffered burns to both hands and was hospitalized.
An employee was terminating conductors to buss bars inside the secondary compartment of a single-phase transformer. An arc flash occurred, causing burns to the soft tissue of the employee's face.
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.
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 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.