Other fall to lower level 11 to 15 feet · Fractures
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at CenturyLink, 1509 Dearborn, CALDWELL, IDAHO 83605
on — Fractures, affecting the heel(s).
Final narrative
An employee was working at mid-span between two telephone poles (that is, on a ladder set between the poles and designed to fit between them). The ladder slipped and the employee fell to the ground about 12 feet below, landing on his feet and shattering both heels.
An employee had been using a bucket truck to repair a telecommunications cable at a customer's residence. The employee completed the job and got down into the truck bed from the bucket itself, and was then stepping off the platform at the rear of the truck when he missed a step, lost balance and fell from the back of the truck to the ground approximately 4-5 ft below. The employee landed on his tool belt and the right side of his lower back. He was hospitalized with four fractured vertebrae in the lower back.
The employee was on top of a rail car to level the grain that was deposited into the car when they fell 13-15 feet to the ground. The employee sustained a right leg fracture.
An employee was on an extension ladder installing a satellite dish on a roof when they fell approximately 12-15 feet to the ground. The employee sustained fractures.
An employee was setting a 5-foot pry bar into a precast concrete slab and stood on the end of the pry bar to move the slab into place. The pry bar slipped out causing the employee to fall backward 15.5 feet to the dirt ground. The employee was hospitalized with a broken leg.
An employee was on a step ladder to measure and mark a crane rail for modification. The employee fell approximately 12 to 15 feet to the ground, resulting in a fractured right hip.
An employee was on a trailer securing a load of logs when they fell approximately 9-12 feet to the ground. The employee sustained brain hemorrhaging and lacerations to the thigh and above the eye. The employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 517311)
An employee had just finished pumping water from a manhole on one side of a two-lane street to the ditch on the other side of the street. While the employee was picking up the hose, a passing vehicle contacted the hose, which either pulled the employee to the ground or pulled the pump into the employee's leg. The employee suffered a broken left femur and was hospitalized.
An employee was doing work in the field during a hot day, which included moving and setting up a 28-foot extension ladder and climbing the ladder to remove and attach cable lines. The employee became ill and was hospitalized with severe dehydration and heat-related illness.
Employees were working to secure a low-hanging feeder. An employee was elevated in a bucket at a height of approximately 12 feet and was pulling the lashing wire. The lashing wire flipped up and struck the lower phase (120 volts) of power that was 2.4 feet above the feeder and strand. The employee sustained electrical burns to their chest, both hands, and the right forearm.
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.