Caught in running equipment or machinery during maintenance, cleaning · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at OCI Alabama LLC, 1455 Red Hat Rd., DECATUR, ALABAMA 35601
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
Employees were trying to start a reactor arm. One of them was trying to adjust a three-groove V-belt that was turning in the pulley but was not in the proper grooves. The employee's left glove was caught and pulled into the pulley grooves, and two of his fingers were amputated.
Two employees were repairing the hydraulic engagement pins on a rented front-end wheel loader. The machine controls were activated to move the attachment pins and an employee's finger was caught between the pins and the bushings. Their right index finger was partially amputated.
An employee was cleaning the conveyor on a piece of equipment when they slipped and their right hand was pulled into the chain sprocket. The employee's fifth fingertip was amputated.
An employee was throwing blankets onto a blanket folding and stacking machine. A blanket got stuck in the machine and she attempted to remove it when the machine contacted her right little finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 325180)
An employee was on a ladder disconnecting a 1-inch hose, known to have last carried acrylic acid that had been drained. When the hose was disconnected, residual acid dripped onto the employee's shoulder/arm area, causing a second-degree chemical burn.
On October 1, 2025, at approximately 9:50 p.m., an employee was removing a sack of debris from a dust collector when four of his right-hand fingers were severed by a rotary valve. The employee was hospitalized and underwent surgery to amputate the four fingers at the knuckle.
An employee was unloading and depressurizing a railcar filled with sulfuric acid. The employee turned the valve to disconnect the hose when sulfuric acid released and sprayed upward via the standpipe. The employee was hospitalized burns.
On May 8, 2025, an employee developed a cough while cleaning up chemical sewage from the floor. He was hospitalized, having suffered an allergic reaction to chemical product vapors.
An employee was loading a magazine of tubes into a machine to fill. As they raised the door into position, the door dropped onto the employee's right hand and amputated their right index fingertip at the nailbed.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.