Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Ahlstrom-Munksjo, 515 West Davenport Street, RHINELANDER, WISCONSIN 54501
on — Heat syncope, affecting the bODY SYSTEMS.
Final narrative
An employee was at his locker, gathering his equipment when he began feeling ill. The employee went into the cooling room to sit for approximately 20 minutes. The employee left the cooling room to report to his supervisor that he was feeling unwell. While his supervisor was talking to him, the employee collapsed in the supervisor's office and was unresponsive. The employee was hospitalized for heat stress.
An employee was operating the winch to pull coal rail cars. The employee's left ring finger was caught between the rope and the winch resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was working on a valve body. As he was looking for a tool in a cabinet, the drawer closed on his finger, resulting in a right ring fingertip amputation.
An employee was working in the recovery boiler area which is a warm environment. He started experiencing shortness of breath and cramping during his walk-around. The employee was hospitalized for kidney failure due to heat stress.
On January 10, 2022, an employee was driving a semi trailer toward a dock door. During a 90-degree turn, the trailer tipped onto its passenger side and struck a power pole. The employee fell to the passenger-side door, suffering a broken collarbone and three broken ribs.
An employee was wrapping finished rolls of paper when their right leg became caught in a gap between the platform and the wrap machine's roller, resulting in fractures to their lower right leg and ankle.
An employee was performing finishing work on a residential driveway when they began to experience body cramps and were hospitalized for heat stress and dehydration.
An agent was participating in SWAT team selection and was performing various physical fitness skills including running and exercise intervals. The agent experienced dehydration and a muscular injury that required hospitalization.
On September 26, 2023, an employee was delivering packages when he began to feel ill with a pain in his side. He was hospitalized for heat exhaustion and dehydration.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 322121)
Tools and parts were being lowered to the ground from an elevated platform in a 5-gallon bucket. The rope being used to lower the bucket failed; the tools and parts fell and lacerated the left forearm and upper left leg of an employee on the ground.
An employee was tracking an infeed belt on a scrap hogger when their right arm was caught between the belt and a roller. The arm was broken and the employee's shoulder was dislocated. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working to clear a jam from a paper napkin folder. The ram that advanced the napkins pushed the employee's right arm into the side of the machine, causing several lacerations and a hairline fracture.
An employee was troubleshooting overflowing ink on a printer-slotter machine when their right ring fingertip was caught in a guarded roller, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee was disconnecting wires in preparation to swap out a refiner motor when they contacted energized equipment and sustained an electrical shock. The employee was hospitalized.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.