Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode · Coughing and throat irritation- toxic, noxious, or allergenic effect
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Turner Industries Group, 3010 Soda Springs Road, SODA SPRINGS, IDAHO 83276
on — Coughing and throat irritation- toxic, noxious, or allergenic effect, affecting the bODY SYSTEMS.
Final narrative
An employee was working on a scaffold when they were exposed to soda ash from work being performed 50 feet away, resulting in hospitalization due to lung irritation and an allergic reaction.
An employee rigged a crate so that it could be removed from a shipping container. The pallet jack could not access the crate in the back of the container so a choker was attached to the crate and a forklift attached to the choker to pull the crate into a position where the pallet jack could reach it. As the forklift operator was pulling out the crate with the choker and the employee was walking away, the crate came apart and a 4 x 4 portion of the skid struck the employee who rigged it in the back of the head below their hard hat, resulting in a laceration. The employee was knocked to the floor and sustained a fractured ninth rib on his left side.
Two employees were removing a pressure safety valve when chlorine gas was released. The injured employee suffered upper respiratory irritation due to the chlorine gas.
An employee was climbing up a fixed structural ladder when he lost his grip and fell approximately 6 feet to the ground, resulting in a fractured left hip.
An employee had just completed a job and was returning to the operations control room to sign out of the unit. The employee used his right shoulder to push open the door and exit the building. The door closed on his left middle finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
Employees were unbolting the head of a product purge bin utilizing a high-speed cut saw. As the crew was cutting the last of 15 bolts on the purge bin head, a flash fire occurred resulting in burns to four employees.
An employee was passing through a building when she suffered an allergic reaction to a cinnamon air freshener. The employee began to feel dizzy and ill, ultimately becoming unresponsive. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee wearing a blasting hood was preparing to blast inside a tank. The line that supplies the hood with breathing air was plugged into an argon line. The employee breathed the argon gas and fell. The employee was hospitalized for argon poisoning.
An employee was preparing a pump for maintenance. When the employee removed a cover, chemicals were released into the air. The employee was exposed to hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan and was hospitalized.
An employee was fixing a broken purlin at a worksite when they fell from the framing to the concrete floor approximately 19 feet below. The employee sustained brain bleeding and fractures to their face, vertebrae, and wrists.
Employees were removing scaffolding that was used to repair an ion exchange tank. The line was undergoing the regen process when a piece of scaffold struck a PVC pipe that transported hydrochloric acid (HCl). The injured employee was placing material inside a scaffold rack when he was sprayed in the face with HCl and sustained chemical burns to his eyes, face, chest, right arm, and left leg.
An employee was moving a ramming machine to a staging area. While using the controls on the side of the machine, there was a sudden heavy rainfall causing the equipment to slide. The ramming machine tipped over and caught the employee against the ground. The employee sustained a fracture to the right side of their pelvis and was hospitalized.
The injured employee was training a new employee on a dough machine. She went to show where the batter comes from and her right index fingertip was cut. The employee sustained an amputation to the fingertip. The machine was not guarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was operating a roller machine on a dirt slope when the machine hit a bump and fell onto it's side. While trying to get free of the falling machine, the employee's legs were pinned by the top bar of the cage. The employee was hospitalized and his left leg was amputated. He also sustained fractures to a hand and finger.
An employee was diagnosing the lack of flow of product to a powder bin. The employee removed the rotary star valve below the bin. While he was reinstalling the valve, his right middle finger was crushed between its shaft and its housing. The finger was partially amputated.
An employee was standing on a multi-purpose ladder installing head flashing over a window. Their feet were approximately 6 feet off the ground and three rungs from the top. The employee lost their grip on the drill they were using and the ladder tipped over. The employee fell from the ladder to the ground, resulting in a fractured left wrist, bruised chest, and lacerations to their face and lip.
An employee was inspecting the overhead area of a single-person lift and repositioning the lift through a double doorway. As they were transitioning through the doorway, they were caught between the doorframe and the vertical mast of the lift. The employee was hospitalized with injuries to the nose, left maxillary sinus, left orbital bone, and left jaw, with fractures at the maxillary sinus area.
An employee was loading a 4-inch wooden door into a pickup truck when he felt a pop in his right side behind his shoulder blade. He was hospitalized later that day and underwent surgery, having suffered a collapsed right lung.