Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Precision Blasting, Inc., 1670 South 19th Street, HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17104
on — Amputations, affecting the lower leg(s).
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Final narrative
A contractor employee sustained a possible amputation of the left leg below the knee during explosive blasting.
An employee was helping to download shaped charges. During the process, a charge exploded directly over the employee's left hand. The employee suffered lacerations and burns to his left hand. He was hospitalized, and his left little finger was surgically amputated.
An employee placed an explosive in the economizer hole and another employee then set the blast. When the explosive blast occurred, the injured employee sustained amputations to fingers on the right hand.
An employee was cutting a piece of aluminum using a torch. Unexploded ammunition inside the piece exploded, creating shrapnel that struck the employee. The employee suffered a chest contusion and a laceration up the left arm.
An employee was preparing a boulder for demolition. The employee drilled the boulder in two places using a jackhammer and loaded the first hole with a charge. The charge was a dud so the employee flushed out the hole with pressurized water. The employee put gel into the second hole to expand and hold the charge. The second charge was also a dud. The employee flushed the second hole with pressurized water, releasing both charges. The employee drilled another hole and an unknown charge released, causing debris to go into the employee's face and arms. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was holding a pole with an explosive charge on the end of it, which was being used to de-slag a boiler. The explosive charge ignited and caused lacerations to the employee's left hand which resulted in amputation of the hand.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 238990)
A crew was relocating a dumpster (containing approximately 200 pounds of demolished wire) to access the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units they were servicing. During movement of the dumpster, a section of carpet tile dislodged from the floor, causing an employee to lose his footing, slip, and fall. He landed on his right wrist, resulting in a fracture.
An employee was cutting a board using a circular saw. The saw pinched, kicked back, and cut the employee's left ring and little fingers. The employee suffered an amputation to the little finger.
An employee was using an aluminum extension ladder to remove gutters at a height of approximately 20 feet. As they were removing the gutters, part of the gutter collapsed and struck the ladder, causing it to move sideways. The employee fell from the ladder and sustained fractures to ribs on the left side and their right forearm.
An employee was using an electric saw to cut a piece of wood for a fence. The saw slipped out of his hand and lacerated his left leg. He was hospitalized.
An employee was erecting a scaffold. A side bracket was not secure. The employee stepped on the bracket to test it and fell 18 feet to the concrete floor resulting in fractures to the ankles and femurs. He was not using fall protection equipment.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.