Direct exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts · Electrical burns, unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Montana Valley Irrigation, LLC, 278 Archery Road, HELENA, MONTANA 59602
on — Electrical burns, unspecified, affecting the hand(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was replacing a 25hp electric agricultural water pump in an irrigation pumphouse and received an electric shock of 480 volts. The employee sustained burns to the hands.
An employee was installing a ground wire to a power transmission pole. The ground wire contacted an energized portion of a cut-out, causing an arc-flash. The employee was hospitalized with second degree burns to their chest and arms.
An employee was connecting a utility transformer for underground service to a home. The employee's impact drill went across two connection bars with 240 volts of potential, creating an arc flash. The employee sustained burns to the face and eyes due to the arc flash and molten aluminum.
On December 15, 2023, at 9:15 AM, an employee was changing 60-amp fuses in a 480-volt panel when an arc flash occurred. The employee was hospitalized with burns to both hands.
An employee was replacing a water check valve at a water plant. He was lifting the valve with two hands when it slipped and contacted his right ring finger, resulting in a partial amputation without bone loss.
The injured employee was assisting with hitching a trailer to a truck. The employee was working to engage the lunette ring on the trailer with the pintle hook on the truck. A mini-excavator began driving onto the rear of the trailer. The added weight caused the rear of the trailer to lower and the front to rise, creating a pinch point between the trailer and the truck. The employee s left thumb was caught in the latch mechanism of the pintle hook. The thumb tip was partially amputated and required surgery.
An employee was spraying down an area by a conveyor he had been using. Moving parts (such as rollers and chains) inside a gear box amputated his right arm at the elbow. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was adjusting a machine attached to a tractor that rolls out hose into a trench. The machine lowered to the ground and part of it landed on his big toe, amputating it.
An employee was fixing an issue with seed cleaning equipment when he slipped on the ladder he was on. He went to catch himself and his hand went into a moving belt and pulley on the cleaner. The employee sustained the amputation of his right middle and index fingertips just below the fingernails.
An employee was riding an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) to move a bison herd. He was riding up the side of a steep hill when the ATV struck a rock and rolled, ejecting the employee before rolling over him. The employee suffered broken vertebrae in his back that required hospitalization.
An employee was climbing in the spreader area to remove a pasta jam when his right little finger was cut by the rotary cut-off knife. The employee sustained a laceration and fracture, resulting in an amputation.
A smoke jumper parachuted out of a helicopter during a forest fire response, landed on steep rugged terrain, and suffered femur and rib fractures and a liver laceration. The employee was hospitalized.