Maine Fire Protection Systems

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.

A smoke jumper parachuted out of a helicopter during a forest fire response, landed on steep rugged terrain, and suffered femur and rib fractures and a liver laceration. The employee was hospitalized.

Employees were troubleshooting dual duct detectors in a room. The injured employee was on the second rung from the top of a forward-facing 12-foot A-frame ladder. He was reinstalling the duct detector in the furthest duct from him (18 inches). When he pushed the duct detector into the existing holes, the duct broke free and fell, striking his back and shoulders. He was knocked forward over the ladder and fell to the floor. The employee sustained a head injury.

An employee was descending an 8-foot A-frame ladder when he tripped over the fourth step/rung and fell, contacting the floor and a sprinkler pipe that was set on the ground. The employee sustained fractures to his left arm.

An employee working as a contracted firefighter was using a bulldozer to push back an active fire line when they became entrapped in flames, resulting in first- and second-degree burns.

An employee was engaging in daily physical training in preparation for fire season as a smokejumper. The employee sustained swelling and stiffness in their arms and was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis.

A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.

Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.

An employee was using a metal shear when it amputated the tip of his right index finger.

An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.

An employee was standing on a step stool, removing the nuts and bolts from the frame of a solar panel that was being replaced. The employee's cheek made contact with a connector with damaged insulation. The employee was shocked, briefly lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, suffering an injury to the left shoulder.