Contact with hot objects or substances · Second degree heat (thermal) burns
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Gunite Corporation, 302 Peoples Ave., ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS 61104
on — Second degree heat (thermal) burns, affecting the lower leg(s).
Final narrative
On March 30, 2021, an employee was standing on a metal step, clearing built-up slag to allow water to flow through a trough. When he stepped down, his foot entered the hot water and he suffered second-degree burns to the right shin.
An employee was setting filters in molds in a molding machine. The employee's leg was pinched and broken between the foundry mold carriage and a roller bracket.
An employee was using an oxygen lance to clean a cupola slag runner (a portion of a foundry furnace) when the oxygen line supplying the lance failed causing a flame to strike the employee and enter his glove. The employee sustained third degree burns to the back and palm of his right hand.
An employee connected a steam line to a hose to clean equipment when the fitting broke loose. They were struck by steam in the left inner thigh, resulting in burns that required hospitalization.
An employee was making tea when she noticed tea grinds were collecting on the side and water was no longer dripping through the funnel. The employee was checking the funnel when boiling water and tea grinds spilled onto the left side of her body. The employee sustained burns to her neck, back, and arm.
An employee had turned off the ball valve on a waterpipe system and was removing the plug when the coupling system attached to the strainer came apart. Hot water sprayed on his arm and back, resulting in first- and second-degree burns that required surgery.
An employee was using a shovel to remove waste vermiculite from molten zinc. The metal had been placed in a bin and partially hardened. The employee broke through the partially hardened metal; still-molten metal flowed to the employee's steel-toed right boot and entered through the cloth boot tongue. The employee suffered a third-degree burn to the right foot and was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331513)
An employee was unloading metal from two drums on a pallet. The employee removed the lid from the second drum and the drum fell over onto his ankle. The employee sustained a fractured ankle.
An employee was working with team members on the pouring line, casting a sand mold. Molten metal entered the employee's personal protection suit and severely burned his left leg, calf, and ankle.
An employee was jointing a board with a jointer. The board jumped when it came into contact with the jointer's cutter head, and the jolt caused the employee's left hand to slide between the board and the guard and come into contact with the cutter head. He suffered lacerations/partial amputations to the middle, ring, and index fingers.
An employee was turning off a gas valve when he bumped into a die brush and struck the spinning die. The die pin struck him on the back, resulting in contusions, abrasions, and a severe laceration to his back that required hospitalization and surgery.
At 11:45 a.m. on June 13, 2025, an employee of Staley Steel, LLC, was performing preventive maintenance on an overhead crane. While he was holding a grease gun hose and nozzle, he contacted electrical components inside an electrical box. He suffered a first-degree electrical burn on the palm of the left hand, as well as pain up his left arm to the shoulder, and was hospitalized.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.