Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker · Cuts, lacerations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Wharton-Smith, Inc., 288 Legune Ct, HOUMA, LOUISIANA 70361
on — Cuts, lacerations, affecting the upper arm(s).
Final narrative
An employee was using a concrete saw when it kicked back, lacerating the employee's upper left arm.
Two employees were cutting two feet off the bottom of an 8-inch vertical pipe inside a wet well when the block on top of the pipe shifted and the pipe fell. The injured employee's left wrist was crushed between the existing flange and the bottom of the pipe. The employee sustained three fractures.
On 7/13/2019, at 8:00 AM an employee working as an operator and carpenter was stripping the wall forms of a structure. While repositioning himself he lost his footing, fell to the ground and landed on his foot. He sustained a broken lower left leg requiring hospitalization and surgery. The employee was wearing fall protection, but it was not connected at the time of the fall.
An employee was operating an ATV down a closed street on the jobsite and crashed. The employee suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken bones in the elbow and thumb requiring surgery.
An employee was holding a pipe level as it went through a machine when he slipped, lost his balance, and let go of the pipe. He tried to straighten it, but the pipe crushed his pinky fingertip between it and the adjacent concrete wall. He was hospitalized and had surgery.
An employee was using a saw to cut a piece of concrete when the piece gave way and pushed the saw into the employee's leg. The employee's leg was lacerated, requiring stitches and hospitalization.
An employee was grinding some hardfacing on a bulldozer blade when the 9-inch grinder kicked back and lacerated his left leg above the knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was operating a rotating tool to place thread protectors on the end of pipe. Her left hand was on the rotating part of the tool when the tool engaged, resulting in a left forearm fracture and a thumb laceration.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 237110)
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.
On October 7, 2025, employees were conducting trenching operations for the installation of a new sewer line system. The excavator's bucket was detached and put inside the trench as it was being exchanged for a different-sized bucket. An employee entered the trench with a shovel to move some dirt located at the front end of the pipe. The excavator bucket shifted and slid, striking the employee s right foot and trapping it against the ground. The employee sustained a fractured right tibia.
Employees were working to dislodge a large truck that was stuck in a rut using tow straps and a front-end loader with the bucket removed. An employee connected the straps to the loader and truck and another employee slowly engaged the loader to close the coupler. The injured employee's arm became caught in a pinch point. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured arm.
An employee was lifting a piece of 30-inch line stopping equipment using a jack screw. A lifting eye weld snapped and the load dropped. The end of the jack screw then landed on the employee's heel and crushed it. The employee was hospitalized.
A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.
A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.