Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at M A Mortenson Company, 22676 N 850th Ave, KEWANEE, ILLINOIS 61443
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On June 17, 2022, an employee was offloading a turbine blade when their left middle finger was caught in a pinch point and amputated.
An employee was lifting a 50-pound photovoltaic (PV) panel from a horizontal stack of PV panels on a pallet on the ground. The next panel in the stack tipped forward and hit the employee below the left kneecap, breaking the employee's lower leg.
Employees were conducting warranty repair on a residential sidewalk. A skid steer was being used to remove dirt while a section of sidewalk was repaired. A heavy clod of dirt from the skid steer struck one of the employees, breaking the employee's left leg.
While adjusting the forks of a forklift that were resting on a flatbed trailer, something shifted and the employee's left arm was crushed. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was holding a tagline during a lifting operation at a wind farm when a crop duster aircraft flew between the wind tower and tagline that the employee was holding. The aircraft struck the tagline, which caused the employee to be lifted into the air and subsequently land on his back on the ground. He suffered a fractured L1 vertebra.
An employee was operating a forklift and unloading a truck. After the truck was unloaded, the employee got off the forklift and proceeded to adjust the dock plate with a hook tool. The dock plate slipped and the employee went to adjust the plate with their hand when their left middle finger got caught. Their finger was amputated above the first joint.
An employee was rotating a carbide granulator blade when his finger was caught between the blade and a stationary part of the machine. The employee's right middle finger was partially amputated and they suffered an avulsion to the right ring fingertip.
An employee was using a CNC metal lathe machine in manual mode to check that the thread blocking tool made contact with the jaws. As the employee was manually spinning the spindle, his index fingertip was crushed between the spindle's jaws and the grooving insert, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
During a material handling operation, an employee's fingertip was caught under an air conditioning unit as the unit was lowered onto a cart. The employee's fingertip was amputated.
An employee was removing a bolt from a tractor hub when their right index finger was caught between the hub and the frame. The employee's fingertip was crushed and the employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 236210)
An employee was fixing a broken purlin at a worksite when they fell from the framing to the concrete floor approximately 19 feet below. The employee sustained brain bleeding and fractures to their face, vertebrae, and wrists.
Employees were removing scaffolding that was used to repair an ion exchange tank. The line was undergoing the regen process when a piece of scaffold struck a PVC pipe that transported hydrochloric acid (HCl). The injured employee was placing material inside a scaffold rack when he was sprayed in the face with HCl and sustained chemical burns to his eyes, face, chest, right arm, and left leg.
An employee was moving a ramming machine to a staging area. While using the controls on the side of the machine, there was a sudden heavy rainfall causing the equipment to slide. The ramming machine tipped over and caught the employee against the ground. The employee sustained a fracture to the right side of their pelvis and was hospitalized.
The injured employee was training a new employee on a dough machine. She went to show where the batter comes from and her right index fingertip was cut. The employee sustained an amputation to the fingertip. The machine was not guarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was operating a roller machine on a dirt slope when the machine hit a bump and fell onto it's side. While trying to get free of the falling machine, the employee's legs were pinned by the top bar of the cage. The employee was hospitalized and his left leg was amputated. He also sustained fractures to a hand and finger.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.