Machinery or equipment incident on water vehicle · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Omega Protein, Inc., Latitude 29.55.3828 Longitude 089.07.5376, SAINT BERNARD, LOUISIANA 70085
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was working as a commercial fisherman on a fishing boat when his finger got caught in the block causing an amputation to his left little fingertip.
An employee was hooking up a water hose to clean out an acid line. When he opened the acid line valve, acid came out between the crow's foot connections and burned the employee's chest.
An employee was preparing to pump bail water to a vessel when a metal end-cap was blown off the end of the 3-inch bail hose. The end-cap struck the vessel, ricocheted, and then struck the employee's jaw. The employee sustained a fracture to the face and jaw.
On September 7, 2016, at approximately 8:38 PM, an employee was driving across the yard in a golf cart when his left hand was smashed between the cart and an adjacent garbage dumpster. He suffered two broken bones and an open wound, requiring hospitalization.
An employee was replacing a press pump motor. The employee stepped over the motor and his boot got caught on a hydraulic hose. He tripped and fell and his left hand struck the expanded metal guard for the press next to where he was working severing his left pinky finger.
Employees were unloading logs on a logging vessel. The injured employee was standing on the deck as a load came in. The sling popped off the load and the end of the choker struck the employee's lower left leg, resulting in a shin fracture.
An employee was exiting a confined space while carrying a pressure gun when the trigger activated. Water penetrated the employee's left arm, resulting in injury.
The employee was putting shackles on the grab of a vessel-operated crane. As the crane was lifting the grab, it started to swing toward the hopper. The employee reached to stop it when they were caught and lifted by the grab and pinned between it and the hopper. The employee sustained a pelvic fracture and lacerations to the arm and pelvis.
An employee was launching a boat during rough sea conditions. The employee lost balance, causing their left index and middle fingertips to be caught in the eye of the bow line, resulting in amputation.
Two employees were in a boat pulling a 45-pound anchor out of the water by the rope. The rope tightened and as the employees were attempting to create slack in the rope, the injured employee began to slip. His hand was caught between the rope and the inside of the platform boat, resulting in amputation of the right middle finger with bone loss.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 311712)
On July 7, 2025, an employee was cleaning food from under a conveyor belt. He was retrieving a piece of food when his left middle finger contacted the chain and pulley. The fingertip was amputated. The machine was guarded at the time of the incident.
On December 16, 2024, at approximately 3:07 p.m., an employee was feeding frozen fish blocks via a conveyor belt into a floor mounted electrically powered grinder. The grinder became jammed with the fish material. The worker deenergized the machine and used a rolling ladder to climb approximately 4 feet in the air to unjam it. As the fish block became dislodged, the momentum of the action caused the fish block to slam down on her right thumb and the machine, causing a partial amputation of the thumb tip.
An employee opened a fillet machine to remove a fish that had gotten stuck when their left hand made contact with the blade, resulting in cut ligaments between the thumb and index finger.
An employee was moving a loading ramp to the dock when the ramp became stuck. While dislodging it, the ramp fell on their left hand. The employee sustained a partial amputation to their left middle finger.
A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.
A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.