Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at General Mechanical Contractors, Inc., 115 Dwight St, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 01103
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the face, unspecified.
Final narrative
At about 1:00 p.m. on February 5, 2020, an employee was disassembling a 40-gallon water expansion tank to scrap it. Pressurized air from a bladder in the tank discharged when a flange bolt was removed, causing the flange to strike and injure the employee's face.
An employee was performing maintenance on a roof top unit and was either ascending or descending the roof hatch ladder when he lost his footing and fell to the concrete floor. The employee sustained broken eye sockets, a concussion, a fractured knee and internal bleeding.
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.
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 fell while exiting a trailer. The employee landed on their left side on the pavement, suffering multiple broken ribs on the left side. The employee was hospitalized.
Two employees were setting up a mandrel in the spindle of a machine. The mandrel was side-shifted while an employee's hand was on the mast of a powered industrial truck. The employee suffered crushing injuries that resulted in amputations to the middle and ring fingertips.
An employee had been loading a double deck press. The employee saw a mold had been sent in with the C-hook still attached on the belly bar. As he went to remove the hook from the mold, his right thumb got caught on the C-hook. The employee's thumb was partially amputated.
An employee was operating a roller and paving a small pathway next to a pavilion. The ground was on a slight pitch, causing him to reach up toward the roll cage to stabilize himself. His right fifth finger was pinched between the roll cage and the rafter of the pavilion. The employee sustained a partial degloving injury with partial traumatic amputation.
An employee was delivering home heating fuel when bees came from the ground and stung the employee's face, neck, torso, and hands. The employee proceeded to shut off the oil flow before losing consciousness. They were hospitalized due to an anaphylactic reaction.