Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at TEDS Plumbing LLC, 507 S. Harrison, HUGOTON, KANSAS 67951
on — Fractures, affecting the multiple trunk locations.
Final narrative
An employee was digging around the saddle of a sewer tap at a residential job site. The side wall of the ditch collapsed and a chunk of asphalt and dirt pinned the employee against the side of the ditch. He suffered broken ribs and a broken pelvis.
The injured employee and a coworker were carrying a joint of 6" PVC pipe. They stepped over the side of a pile of dirt and concrete (approximately 3'x3') and the injured employee lost his footing. The employee's right leg was fractured in two places below the knee.
An employee was doing electrical work in a trench when one of the trench walls caved in. The employee was struck by the soil and sustained fractures to their ribs and pelvis.
An employee was kneeling in a 4-foot deep hole trying to fix a leak in the waterline. The sidewalls were wet and the dirt fell from behind the employee onto his left side and crushed him against the pipe. The employee was hospitalized for an injured liver.
Employees were checking a trench box for removal when the wall caved in, burying the employees. One employee was hospitalized for 8 rib fractures and a shoulder fracture. The other employee was also hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 238220)
An employee was moving a 3-ton condensing unit, strapped down on a dolly, out of a garage. The strap broke, causing the employee to fall backward onto the brick pavered driveway. The employee suffered injury to a spinal ligament in the neck.
An employee was closing the side cargo door to a company van. The tip of his finger got caught between the door and the door jamb, resulting in a partial amputation.
While working at a customer's residence, an employee was cutting tape with a box cutter to wrap insulation for a piece of pipe. The box cutter struck a hardened object within the wall causing it to bounce back and puncture the employee's right eye. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was assembling a baker type scaffold. He was beginning to transverse down the scaffold, approximately six feet off the ground, when the scaffold tipped over and he fell. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured femur.
An employee was trimming out sprinklers on the exterior of a building when he fell off an extension ladder. He landed on the ground and sustained fractures to his nose and arm.
An employee was working to remove a product blockage from a piece of equipment. The employee was struck by a metal bar near the deck of the pin mixer equipment and sustained blunt force trauma to the torso.
An employee was moving a rack onto a lower conveyor in the south heat treat area when their finger got caught between the part tray and the rollers, resulting in a fingertip fracture and amputation.
An employee was climbing a ladder to get on top of the breakroom. The ladder slipped, causing him to fall to the ground. The employee sustained fractures to his upper back, left foot, and ankle.
Two employees were removing a circuit breaker. The injured employee was using wrenches in the removal process. One of the wrenches contacted an adjacent door, resulting in an arc flash. The employee suffered burns to their neck, face, and ear, as well as momentary vision loss due to the flash.
An employee bent over to pick up a rubber mat from the ground. When he grabbed the corner of the mat, a rattlesnake hidden under it bit his left middle finger near the first knuckle. He was hospitalized.