Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Badger Custom Pallets, Inc., 450 Quality Court, FALL RIVER, WISCONSIN 53932
on — Fractures, affecting the lower leg(s).
Final narrative
On January 10, 2020, an employee was struck by a falling skid of stringers after a forklift had struck the skid and caused it to fall. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured lower left leg.
HospitalizedLower leg(s)Forklift, order picker, platform truck-powered
More severe injuries at Badger Custom Pallets, Inc.
Two employees were walking through the warehouse behind a forklift that was moving pallets of 30-foot metal bottom bars. When the forklift reversed, the top of the forklift struck a box of metal bottom bars on top of racking, causing the box to fall and strike the two employees. They were both taken to the hospital; one employee was treated and released without being admitted. The other employee was hospitalized with a fractured left orbital bone and an injured right knee.
The injured employee was spray painting lay flat shipping reels while another employee was picking up the reels with a telehandler after they were painted. The telehandler bumped a reel, causing other reels to fall. The injured employee was caught between the reels, resulting in broken left femur.
An employee was installing an aerial drop cable across a roadway. The employee was on a ladder positioned against a telephone pole. Cable had been installed on one side of the roadway. The employee was making the connection to the pole on the opposite side of the roadway when a box truck contacted the cable, causing the employee to fall onto the grass of the customer's yard. The employee sustained broken ribs and was hospitalized.
An employee was performing routine housekeeping duties when a bale of plastic bottles slid off the forks of a forklift that was backing out of a trailer. The bale struck the employee, pushing her into another machine. The employee suffered a fractured rib and punctured lung.
An employee was using a 4-by-4 to straighten a pack of wood. A forklift nudged the 4-by-4, which caused the employee's right hand to be caught between it and the pack of wood. The employee suffered a partial amputation to the right ring finger.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 321920)
An employee was cutting wood with a miter saw when their clothing was pulled into the blade, resulting in a bicep laceration. The employee was hospitalized. The blade cover was not in place at the time of the incident.
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 processing wood boards at a chop saw when the saw malfunctioned and the blade cut her left hand and fingers. She was hospitalized and her little finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was operating a bubble wrap production line. He was splicing the ends of the film rolls together with tape when a driven roll contacted his hand. His hand and arm were pulled into the machine up to his shoulder. The employee's forearm contacted the the hot surface (230-500 F) of the bubble stamping cylinder. He was hospitalized with burns to the forearm that required surgery and crushing injuries to the hand and forearm without fractures.
An employee was operating a pallet dismantling saw. A board became stuck, and the employee tried to pull the pallet. When the board broke, the employee's right hand made contact with the blade, resulting in the amputation of the right middle finger above the second knuckle.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.