Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Solutia Inc., 730 Worcester St, SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 01151
on — Fractures, affecting the lumbar region.
Final narrative
An employee stepped out of their work truck, slipped on black ice, and fell resulting in a fracture to their L1 vertebra.
An employee received a thumb pad amputation while troubleshooting a wooden pallet dispenser. The ram of the dispenser came forward to dispense a pallet and on its backward stroke caught the employee's thumb and pinched it between the ram and ram housing.
An employee was working in the forest flagging an area to be harvested. He took a step and his foot slipped on a stick hidden under the leaves, causing him to fall to the ground. He landed on his right foot/lower leg resulting in a fractured tibia.
An employee was inspecting an apartment to ensure it was ready for a new resident to move in. The carpet in the apartment had been recently cleaned and was still wet. As the employee went from the carpet to the tiled floor of the bathroom, they slipped and fell, resulting in a torn left hamstring.
An employee was delivering a letter along a rural carrier route when she stepped on an ice-covered snow drift, slipped, and fell to the ground. The employee sustained a right hip fracture that required surgery.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 326113)
A subcontracted engineer was advising maintenance how to make a modification to the embossing roll system on a new line. Maintenance was bringing the motor and gearbox down with a crane. The load shifted when it was a few inches from the ground. The engineer went to catch/maneuver the gearbox and the fingers on his left hand were crushed between the I-beam base of the gearbox and the concrete floor. A finger was amputated.
On July 30, 2025, an employee was assisting co-workers in using a hoist to position an injection molding tool onto a work table. As the tool was being lowered, the slide section shifted, trapping and amputating the employee's right thumb tip.
An employee was manually lifting a film roll when their right middle fingertip was pinched between the roll and a metal beam, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
At about 10:00 a.m. on July 13, 2025, an employee was cleaning the adhesive from running rollers using a rag soaked in cleaning solvent to prevent contamination. The rag was caught between two rollers and pulled the employee's right hand between the rollers. The employee sustained right hand crushing injuries, de-gloving injuries (palmer and dorsal sides), and fractures. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee working on a sheet line was removing masking from the underside of plastic sheeting that was being lifted by a vacuum lift. The plastic sheet measured 4 feet wide, 14 feet long, and approximately 1 inch thick, and it weighed approximately 300 pounds. The vacuum lost suction and dropped the plastic sheet onto the employee's arm, pinning it between two sheets and resulting in a broken right forearm.
An employee fell while exiting a trailer. The employee landed on their left side on the pavement, suffering multiple broken ribs on the left side. The employee was hospitalized.
Two employees were setting up a mandrel in the spindle of a machine. The mandrel was side-shifted while an employee's hand was on the mast of a powered industrial truck. The employee suffered crushing injuries that resulted in amputations to the middle and ring fingertips.
An employee had been loading a double deck press. The employee saw a mold had been sent in with the C-hook still attached on the belly bar. As he went to remove the hook from the mold, his right thumb got caught on the C-hook. The employee's thumb was partially amputated.
An employee was operating a roller and paving a small pathway next to a pavilion. The ground was on a slight pitch, causing him to reach up toward the roll cage to stabilize himself. His right fifth finger was pinched between the roll cage and the rafter of the pavilion. The employee sustained a partial degloving injury with partial traumatic amputation.
An employee was delivering home heating fuel when bees came from the ground and stung the employee's face, neck, torso, and hands. The employee proceeded to shut off the oil flow before losing consciousness. They were hospitalized due to an anaphylactic reaction.