Pedestrian struck by rail vehicle-transportation incident · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Azcon Metals, Inc., 121 Chessen Lane, ALTON, ILLINOIS 62002
on — Amputations, affecting the lower leg(s).
Final narrative
An employee was coupling railcars near the melt shop. The employee's right foot was crushed between railcar couplers and toes were amputated by the steel toe of their boot. The employee was hospitalized and their leg was medically amputated from the knee down.
An employee was uncoupling railcars while the cars were in motion and a car ran over her left lower leg, resulting in crush injuries and amputation below the knee. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was lining up rail cars using the remote control for a locomotive. One of the rail cars moved and pinched the employee between the couplers of two rail cars. The employee sustained blunt force trauma to the right hip.
On December 4, 2023, an employee was helping to move a hopper car. He was climbing the stairs to go to the other side of the hopper car when he slipped. His right foot went under the hopper car's wheel and a toe was amputated.
An employee was working between railcars on an active railroad track to connect the airbrake. Another employee moved the railcars, striking and running over the employee resulting in amputation of both legs.
On March 25, 2022, an employee had just detached a string of empty rail cars away from some loaded cars. The string of detached cars was being taken ahead, and the employee began pulling the knuckle of a rail car into the open position. The string of detached cars then momentarily came back, and the employee was pinched between two cars. The employee suffered a broken right hip and was hospitalized.
At about 8:40 p.m., two employees (a groundsman and a switchman) were working in a rail yard, setting rail cars to be released from the site. The groundsman was watching the switchman connect an end-of-train device on the string of rail cars. While he was on the adjacent track, a locomotive on that track moved forward and struck him, knocking him over, injuring his right foot, and amputating his left leg above the knee.
On June 25, 2020, an employee was acting as a groundman to assist the locomotive driver in staging cars in the blast building. As the railcar was moving past a beam that is part of the building, the employee became pinned between the beam and the railcar and sustained a fractured pelvis.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331491)
An employee was cutting a metal square on a hydraulic shear when his left hand got caught between the metal and the shear block. The employee's middle finger was amputated.
An employee was uncoupling railcars while the cars were in motion and a car ran over her left lower leg, resulting in crush injuries and amputation below the knee. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working to remove a piece of wood that was jamming a transfer conveyor at the shredder. He used a tool to clear the jam, then reached to grab the wood. His sleeve got caught in the conveyor and his right arm was pulled into the pulley. The employee was hospitalized with an open fracture and a crush injury/laceration to his right forearm. The machine was running at the time.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.