Struck against moving part of machinery or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Building 343, KITTERY, MAINE 03904
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was using a floor mounted pedestal grinder to resurface a steel wedge. During the process, the employee's hand contacted the surface of the spinning abrasive wheel, causing an avulsion injury to the tip of their right index finger. The employee's distal phalange was later amputated.
An employee was molding a steel plate using a shaping press when pressure released and the steel plate struck the employee. The employee was knocked to the ground and sustained a lower back injury.
A mechanic was lowering a vertical launch system (VLS) cover when they slipped on the side shell and their finger became caught between the work platform frame and grating. The employee sustained a partial amputation to the right middle finger through part of the nail bed.
An employee was walking from his car to the office building, slipped on snow and ice, and fell striking his head on the ground. The employee sustained a concussion.
An employee was performing maintenance on an abrasive blasting pot. Residual air pressure in the pot caused the cover and blasting grit to strike the employee's face and neck area causing contusion/abrasion injuries and particulate in the right eye.
An employee was operating a strip saw. As the employee shut off the saw, their right index and middle fingertips were amputated by the blade before it came to a complete stop.
An employee was using a table saw to cut a piece of wood for wall framing. The wood jumped, causing the employee's hand to move toward the saw, amputating their left index finger and causing a laceration on their hand.
An employee was operating a trim saw. While trying to free a jammed board she had just cut, she came into contact with the running saw blade, which amputated her right thumb.
An employee was hooking up bundled tie-downs with a chain. While he was holding a hook, the other hook was unlocked. This caused the employee's hook to slide down and pinch his right index finger between the chain and the shackle. He suffered an amputation to the fingertip (without bone loss), as well as an open fracture.
An employee was preparing to bend a flat bar in a brake press. When the machine was jogged, the stock rotated up and crushed his left middle fingertip against the outer frame of the die. The fingertip was amputated.
An employee was cutting metal with a torch. A piece of metal struck the employee's left foot, causing multiple fractures to metatarsal(s). The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was descending a ladder carrying a bag of trash. He fell, landed on the ground about 10 feet below, and suffered fractures to his right hip and pelvis.
A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.
Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was standing on a step stool, removing the nuts and bolts from the frame of a solar panel that was being replaced. The employee's cheek made contact with a connector with damaged insulation. The employee was shocked, briefly lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, suffering an injury to the left shoulder.