Explosion or fire on water vehicle · Heat (thermal) burns, unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at E.R. SNELL CONTRACTOR, INC., 1785 OAK ROAD, SNELLVILLE, GEORGIA 30078
on — Heat (thermal) burns, unspecified, affecting the nonclassifiable.
Final narrative
The injured employee was assisting another employee with fueling a push boat when fumes/vapors in the area were ignited by a spark from the battery post. The injured employee sustained flash burns.
HospitalizedNonclassifiableTugboat, towboat
More severe injuries at E.R. SNELL CONTRACTOR, INC.
An employee was assisting with cutting a vertical steel pile. A 16-foot by 9-inch section of pile dropped to the side and bounced off a previously cut pile and toward the employee. The employee was struck in the torso and leg, causing his knee to dislocate from his femur. The employee was hospitalized.
On October 10, 2024, an employee was using a nine-tire roller machine to roll out dirt with wet/powdered concrete. The machine started sliding on an incline. When the employee reversed, the back tires spun and the machine slid off a 1- to 1.5-foot dirt edge. The employee suffered injuries to the left wrist and hip and was hospitalized.
An employee was opening the valve for the liquid asphalt hauler to make a delivery. The valve was opened from the storage tank that gravity fed the hanging hose for loading trucks. Liquid asphalt sprayed into the air, burning the employee on the left forearm, face, and ear.
An employee was cutting an 18-inch concrete pipe using a concrete saw. He was almost finished cutting it when the concrete saw locked in the cut, causing it to swing back and lacerate his jaw.
After a concrete bucket was filled from a chute, the chute was raised up and crushed the left little finger of the employee who had been filling the bucket. The employee suffered an amputation to the finger.
Two employees were transferring gasoline to a boat when the vapor caught on fire. Employee 1 was hospitalized with burns to the face and body. Employee 2 sustained eye and skin injuries but was not hospitalized.
Five workers of two employers (Wastewater Specialties, LLC and Westlake Chemical Lake Charles South) were hospitalized when a flash fire in a vessel occurred. Two employees were on an elevated platform welding a flange onto a 54-inch segment of process piping at the quench tower. Three other workers were engaged in a hydro blasting operation. Employee 1 suffered head trauma, lacerations, and burns. Employee 2 suffered a lower leg/ankle injury. The other workers sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns to face and torso, and fractures to their arms and legs.
An employee was performing maintenance and repair work on a boat. When the boat was started up, it caught fire and exploded. The employee suffered second-degree burns to the face, hands, and legs.
While prepping a push-boat to move to another location, employees filled both motors with 2-stroke oil and put the cowlings back on the motors. An employee went to start the motors. The port motor started but the starboard motor hesitated. The employee tried again; the starboard motor started up but fire shot out and fuel that leaked caught fire. One employee was hit by the flames, and sustained burns on the neck, left hand, and both legs.
On June 22, 2020, at 10:50 AM, an employee was installing a fuel sender in a 31-foot boat's fuel tank. As he connected the fuel sender wires, a spark was created and ignited the fuel vapors. The vapors exploded and then caught on fire, burning the employee. He jumped down from the boat and other employees ran over to put out the fire. He was hospitalized with third degree burns on his hands and a concussion.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 237310)
An employee was operating a battery-powered broom to clean demolition debris off the top of the outermost bridge girder. The girder was approximately 11 feet above the demolition scaffold below. The employee fell approximately 8 feet to wind bracing below. The employee was hospitalized with a pelvis/tailbone fracture. Fall protection was in place at the time.
An employee was cleaning out an inlet pipe in a stormwater structure. The employee stepped back, fell into the pipe, and landed on concrete 13 feet below, at the bottom of the structure. He suffered a broken back.
A concrete batch plant operator was assisting with clearing spoil piles using a skid steer. The skid steer backed into a stationary screen plant. The employee's left little finger was crushed between the controls of the skid steer and the screen plant, resulting in a fracture and laceration. The employee's finger was surgically 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 working with paving equipment and heard a noise on the opposite side of the machine he was working on. When the machine stopped, the employee went to the opposite side and crouched down to investigate the noise. A mini track loader backed up and drove over the employee's leg. The employee sustained fractures to their lower leg, ankle, and foot.
An employee was helping to lift the grating from a floor draining system when the grating slipped and landed on his hand, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger at the first joint.
During a workshop meeting in a hotel, an employee heard a drilling noise, so he walked outside to see what it was. An explosion occurred (possible gas line) and his face, ear, and hair were burned. He also fell and sustained a pelvic fracture.
An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.