Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at UGI Utilities Inc., 643 West Main Street, BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17815
on — Fractures, affecting the hand(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
UGI employees were doing excavation work on a the shoulder of a two-lane residential street. One of them was standing in front of a barrier vehicle, in place to protect the work area. A pickup truck struck the barrier vehicle. The employee's right hand was broken and lacerated, either by debris from the barrier vehicle or from the pickup truck's passenger-side mirror.
An employee was walking while at a customer location when they slipped on a step and fell to the ground, resulting in a bruised kidney that required hospitalization.
An employee was kneeling to turn off a valve at a gas meter. When he stood up, he felt pain in his neck, back, and legs. The employee then fell to the ground.
An employee was performing work on a transformer pad approximately 10 feet from a roadway when they slipped on ice and fell, resulting in a fractured leg that required hospitalization.
An employee was standing near a roadway when a passing tractor trailer struck an overhead line, causing a temporary traffic light to fall and strike the employee. The employee suffered a fractured pelvis/hip.
Two employees were walking through the warehouse behind a forklift that was moving pallets of 30-foot metal bottom bars. When the forklift reversed, the top of the forklift struck a box of metal bottom bars on top of racking, causing the box to fall and strike the two employees. They were both taken to the hospital; one employee was treated and released without being admitted. The other employee was hospitalized with a fractured left orbital bone and an injured right knee.
The injured employee was spray painting lay flat shipping reels while another employee was picking up the reels with a telehandler after they were painted. The telehandler bumped a reel, causing other reels to fall. The injured employee was caught between the reels, resulting in broken left femur.
An employee was installing an aerial drop cable across a roadway. The employee was on a ladder positioned against a telephone pole. Cable had been installed on one side of the roadway. The employee was making the connection to the pole on the opposite side of the roadway when a box truck contacted the cable, causing the employee to fall onto the grass of the customer's yard. The employee sustained broken ribs and was hospitalized.
An employee was performing routine housekeeping duties when a bale of plastic bottles slid off the forks of a forklift that was backing out of a trailer. The bale struck the employee, pushing her into another machine. The employee suffered a fractured rib and punctured lung.
An employee was using a 4-by-4 to straighten a pack of wood. A forklift nudged the 4-by-4, which caused the employee's right hand to be caught between it and the pack of wood. The employee suffered a partial amputation to the right ring finger.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 221210)
An employee was operating an aerial work platform. While the employee was maneuvering the lift through a set of double doors, their head was caught between the door frame and the platform's vertical mast. The employee suffered a skull fracture that required surgery.
An employee was transporting used filter media (containing pyrophoric iron sulfide) from an inlet gas separator in the bed of a truck. The material ignited. While the employee was removing items from the truck bed, a gas can was exposed to the fire and off-gassing vapors ignited. The employee suffered first- and second-degree burns to both arms, the chest, the neck, and the right ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was using a pipe threading machine to thread a 2-inch diameter gas pipe during the rebuilding of a gas meter. The pipe was in a vise mounted on the back of the crew truck. A few pieces of metal chips or shavings caused the threading machine to jam. The employee started to back the pipe up, but it jammed in that direction as well. While reaching to pull the handle back up into place to try and start again, the machine rotated about an inch and pinched his middle fingertip against the edge of the truck s back step. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated without loss of bone.
The injured employee was manually lowering a ramp on a heavy equipment trailer with the assistance of another employee. The injured employee was standing behind the trailer ramp. After removing the safety pins, the ramp descended quickly and struck the injured employee, causing them to fall to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to their sternum and L1 vertebra.
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.