Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects, unspecified · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Ascend Performance Materials, 1050 Chemstran Avenue, DECATUR, ALABAMA 35601
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
Employees were unloading material from a barge to a storage tank. A logistics employee was lowering the unloading arm at the barge dock. The employee provided the barge operator the rope used to guide the unloading arm from the dock down to the barge. The logistics employee pulled both pins that secure the counter weight when not in use. The logistics employee then grabbed the back of the counter weight handle and pulled the counter weight toward themself. As the logistics employee was guiding the counter weight past the unloading valve handle, the counter weight pushed back too far and struck the unloading valve handle. The operator's pinky finger was caught between the unloading valve and counterweight, resulting in a partial amputation.
HospitalizedAmputationFinger(s), fingernail(s), unspecifiedMaterial and personnel handling machinery, unspecified
More severe injuries at Ascend Performance Materials
An employee was helping to load wood crates in the bag boxing area. The employee was caught between a strapping machine and a crate. The employee sustained five broken ribs.
An employee was changing mud cups in the hopper cylinders of a concrete pump truck. The cylinders moved and three of the employees fingers were amputated.
An employee was standing on the rig floor next to a polishing unit. His hand was placed on the polishing unit when the pump was lowered, resulting in amputation of their right thumb, ring, and middle fingertips.
An employee was using air to blow out the air wash to the blender and grinder station. As the employee reached to verify that the air wash was clean, the unit pinched and amputated their fingertip.
An employee was retrieving a lost drill pipe with a lifting bail when their left thumb got pinched between the table and handle of the lifting bail while trying to re-thread the pipe to lift it out. The employee suffered an amputation to the left thumb.
An employee was removing a core chuck from a stationary roll when their right ring finger was pinched between the chuck and the roll. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 325199)
Two employees were lifting a roll of steel poly bar (50 inches and approximately 150 pounds) from ground level to a height of 4 feet at the 66-inch rubber calendar. One employee dropped the roll, resulting in the poly bar contacting the injured employee's right knee. The employee was hospitalized with fractured right patella.
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An employee was wearing full PPE while emptying a 55-gallon drum of phosphorus pentoxide and fainted, collapsing and striking their head against the ground. The employee was hospitalized and it is likely that heat caused by wearing full body PPE contributed to fainting.
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An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
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