Bitten and struck by animal · Skull fracture and intracranial injury
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at U.S. Postal Service, 1307 Palmer St., EMMETSBURG, IOWA 50536
on — Skull fracture and intracranial injury, affecting the brain.
Final narrative
On October 25, 2021, an employee was attacked by a dog while delivering mail, causing the employee to fall and strike their head on the ground. The employee suffered a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, bite marks on the arm and leg, and a fractured right arm.
An employee was walking back to a carrier case with mail in her hand when she tripped over a tub. Her back overarched as she fell, resulting in a fractured back that required hospitalization.
An employee delivered a package. On her way back to her vehicle she was attacked by two dogs that came from around a corner. She was hospitalized with dog bites.
On September 29, 2025, a rural mail carrier was delivering parcels to a business when she tripped on a parking stop block in front of the business. She fell to the ground and sustained fractures to her left hip and pelvis. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was working to remove a stuck strap from a tray line while on an A-frame ladder. They fell 6 to 8 feet to the concrete floor, resulting in a head contusion and fractured ribs that required hospitalization.
An employee approached a hog that had gotten out of her pen. While defending its babies, the hog bit and knocked down the employee, who suffered face and arm lacerations, puncture wounds on the left arm, and a broken left arm.
On February 2, 2017, at about 5:00 p.m., an employee was attempting to euthanize a possum when it bit the employee's right hand and scratched the employee's right arm. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee went to empty the trash at a gas pump. When the employee lifted the trash lid, a stray cat jumped out of the trash can and scratched and bit the employee, requiring hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 491110)
An employee was working to deliver mail to an apartment building. She was waiting for a customer to move, to obtain clearance to the mailboxes. The door swung inward and closed on her right little finger. The top half of her finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was waiting for an operator to bring mail over to a mail sorting machine when she became pinned between the machine and a stack of pallets being pushed by a powered industrial truck (PIT). The employee suffered bruising and swelling on her hips, lower back, knees, and left side; a puncture wound to her left thigh from a machine screw; a crushed right hand with numbness and tingling; numbness to the left big toe; and a right wrist sprain.
An employee was walking back to a carrier case with mail in her hand when she tripped over a tub. Her back overarched as she fell, resulting in a fractured back that required hospitalization.
An employee delivered a package. On her way back to her vehicle she was attacked by two dogs that came from around a corner. She was hospitalized with dog bites.
On September 29, 2025, a rural mail carrier was delivering parcels to a business when she tripped on a parking stop block in front of the business. She fell to the ground and sustained fractures to her left hip and pelvis. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was walking to the back door of the post office when they slipped on the icy ground due to freezing rain and fell. The employee sustained a torn rotator cuff in their right shoulder and a fractured right hip.
An employee was on top of an APC to access a radio on a shelf when they slipped and fell to the ground. They sustained three fractured ribs, a fractured right scapula and right clavicle, a knot on top of their head, and a laceration to their left leg.