Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Diamond Materials, LLC, 394 South Chapel Street, NEWARK, DELAWARE 19713
on — Fractures, affecting the thigh(s).
Final narrative
An employee was climbing a 6-foot step ladder to access the back of a flatbed crash truck. He realized he needed to move the ladder and climbed down. As he stepped down to the first step, he lost his balance and fell to the concrete floor, twisting and landing on his hip. He suffered a fracture at the top of a femur.
An employee was placing road barrels on a street for future road work activities. A nearby flatbed truck struck a telephone pole while turning, causing chain link security fencing to strike the employee in the chest and pin them against a steel handrail of the platform and the fence. The employee suffered fractured ribs on both sides, a lacerated liver and pancreas, and a ruptured spleen that required surgery.
An employee was disconnecting a breaker attachment from a backhoe. He used another pin to push the attachment pin out. When the attachment pin became free of the backhoe, the attachment dropped slightly, causing the pin in his hand to shift and pinch his left pinky finger between the attachment frame and the pin. His left pinky fingertip was partially amputated.
An employee went to the top of an asphalt silo to check on a drag conveyor. His left hand became caught in a drive pulley, amputating his middle finger, lacerating his index finger, and fracturing his wrist. The drive pulley was unguarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was helping to set a concrete lid weighing a couple hundred pounds for an electrical box in place. One end of a length of steel chain was attached to a steel loop (hasp) embedded in the concrete lid. The employee attempted to attach the other end of this chain to a steel loop (hasp) on the back (underside) of an excavator bucket when the excavator boom unexpectedly dropped, pinning the employee's right thumb between the bottom of the excavator bucket and the concrete lid. His right thumb was amputated at a point between the first and second knuckle.
An employee was operating a backhoe, shoveling milling material off the road, when the shovel became caught on a manhole road protrusion. This contact jarred the backhoe and the employee with great force, causing a liver injury where the seat belt connection contacted the employee near the right abdominal area.
An employee was climbing a step ladder while carrying a 3-foot piece of conduit. As he went to reposition his feet on the ladder by pivoting, he slipped and fell from the third rung of a 6-foot ladder. The employee sustained fractures to the left femur, right elbow, and right ring finger.
An employee was descending a 4-step maintenance stand when she missed the bottom step and fell to the hangar floor. The employee suffered a left hip fracture.
An employee stopped a belt and was going to check it for missing packages. She fell backward 3-4 feet from an elevated platform and sustained a broken right arm.
An employee had just finished a routine concrete pour and was ascending the ladder to clean the concrete mixer truck. The employee lost their grip and fell approximately 2-3 feet, contacting the truck's bumper. The employee suffered rib fractures and a punctured lung.
An employee was performing duties as an expeditor. After opening the dock door, the employee scanned the barcode on the door of the truck and placed one foot on the truck and one foot on the dock. The truck drove out of the stall, causing the employee to fall 4 feet off the dock onto the concrete. The employee sustained fractures to the right side of the pelvis, elbow, and a left ring fingertip as well as injuries to the right wrist and bruising to the back and stomach.
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.
A flagger was directing traffic flow in a highway work zone. They were standing approximately 1.5 feet behind the shoulder's demarcating line, next to and slightly behind a traffic drum. As they were directing traffic into and out of the driveway of a parking lot, a car attempted to get around a truck and struck the traffic drum, which subsequently struck the employee, who was thrown 15 feet and landed on top of concrete aggregate. The employee suffered pelvic and rib fractures, T10 and L3 vertebra fractures, and internal bleeding.
An employee was troubleshooting a power washer in the field. Because there might have been water in its fuel, he brought it back to the shop and drained about a gallon of fuel from the tank into a plastic container. Some of the fuel spilled onto the floor and ignited. The employee was stomping out the fire when he lost his balance and tripped into a stool, which caused the plastic container to spill more fuel onto the fire. The employee's pants and shirt caught on fire, and he fell, abrading his knee while trying to get through the flames. As well as the knee abrasion, he suffered burns to the left leg and left lower quadrant of the torso. He was hospitalized.
An employee was backing up a tram (towing powered industrial equipment) to connect it to a trash bin. The employee's left forearm/wrist was caught and crushed between the tram and the bin. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee went to lift a carton and tripped on a different carton that was on the floor. She fell on the floor in the backroom and sustained a fractured right hip, and abrasions to her arm and knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.