Other fall to lower level, unspecified · Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Smithfield Foods, 1400 North Weber Avenue, SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA 57103
on — Soreness, pain, hurt-nonspecified injury, affecting the multiple body parts, n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee fell off an 8-foot step ladder and landed on the ground. The employee was hospitalized with injuries to the back, elbow, and ribs.
HospitalizedMultiple body parts, n.e.c.Step ladders
An employee was using a box strapping machine to place straps on boxes when his right middle finger was caught in the machine, resulting in an open fracture to the distal phalanx.
An employee was tearing down a sausage-linking machine as part of a weekly pipe clean out. As the meat piled up on the machine, he went to clean the meat off the top of the machine. The metering gears contacted his left index finger, resulting in a soft tissue fingertip amputation.
An employee was applying spreader hooks to hogs. A hog fell from the hook that he was holding upright and the hook lacerated a tendon in his left hand. The employee was hospitalized for surgery.
An employee was clearing a meat blockage from an auger and amputated his right index finger. The machine was guarded but not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on an A-frame ladder retrieving materials from a shelf. He slipped and fell and his leg got caught in the ladder rungs, breaking his left tibia.
An employee was unloading materials from a flatbed trailer when they fell from the trailer and landed on the ground. The employee sustained a fractured left leg.
An employee was unloading appliances at a customer location for delivery. The employee was moving a water heater to be placed on the liftgate when he stepped backward and fell to the ground. The employee sustained rib and back injuries.
An employee was scraping dried glue from the top lid of a hot glue pot. His left hand slipped and came into contact with the hot glue. He then suffered burns to his hands and fingers as he tried to remove the glue. He was hospitalized.
An employee was in a scissor lift approximately 20 feet above the ground to place a plastic tarp on a catwalk in order to catch condensation. They positioned the lift opposite the work area and stepped out of the scissor lift onto an I-beam. The employee fell from the I-beam to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a skull fracture on the right side of their head and injuries to the chest and both eyes.
A maintenance employee was called to look at a pallet conveyor machine where a chain had fallen off a sprocket wheel. When the employee grabbed the loose chain, a light sensor caused the machine to restart. This created a pinch point between the chain and sprocket that caught the employee's left little finger. The finger was surgically amputated at the second knuckle.
The injured employee was standing by one of the stationary computers along the wall. There was a half-pallet located approximately 3 feet behind the employee that consisted of 12-pound boxes stacked six boxes high. A forklift was transporting a pallet that came in contact with the stationary pallet behind the injured employee, causing four boxes to fall and contact their legs. The injured employee was hospitalized with leg injuries.
An employee was using a box strapping machine to place straps on boxes when his right middle finger was caught in the machine, resulting in an open fracture to the distal phalanx.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
An employee was walking past a crossover conveyor when a ramp came down and hit them in the back. The employee sustained a broken back vertebra, as well as a concussion, and was hospitalized.
An employee was using a hook tool to pull a pallet onto the lift gate of a tractor trailer. The hook detached from the underside of the pallet, causing the employee to fall backward off the lift gate. The employee landed on the concrete parking lot about 5 feet below, suffering fractures to the skull and two thoracic vertebrae.
An employee was walking on a truss table when he lost his balance and fell approximately 3 feet to the floor. The employee sustained a dislocated and fractured left ankle.