Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Glenn O. Hawbaker, Incorporated, Penn State University Campus - White Course Drive - Gate 4, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA 16801
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was guiding a plastic pipe in a trench to connect into a manhole inlet. The pipe was being lowered by an excavator and measured 12 inches in diameter and approximately 13 feet long. The employee was holding the end of the plastic pipe to maneuver it under the spreader of the ditch box when his left middle fingertip was pinched between the plastic pipe end and the spreader. The employee suffered a cut that resulted in surgical amputation of the fingertip.
AmputationFingertip(s)Plastic, PVC, or rubber pipes and tubing
More severe injuries at Glenn O. Hawbaker, Incorporated
An employee was connecting his personal fall arrest system (PFAS) lanyard to a horizontal lifeline positioned on a bridge beam when he fell approximately 8 feet to the rocks below. The employee was hospitalized with facial fractures and head trauma.
An employee was cleaning mud off the lights on a truck after a cargo container had been unloaded from it. As the truck's lift gate was being put away, the winch cable engaged and pulled in the employee's hand, lacerating it and causing four fractures to the palm.
An employee was driving a tri-axle dump truck, delivering a load of stone to a customer at a camp ground. The employee raised the bed of the dump truck 2-3 feet and then went to observe the load. He noticed the load was unbalanced and was causing the truck to lean to the driver's side. The employee got back in the truck and started to lower the bed. At that point, the telescoping rod that raises and lowers the truck bed broke. This caused the truck to tip over onto the driver's side. The employee climbed out of the passenger side and down a ladder. The employee was hospitalized for a fractured T-12 vertebrae.
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 238910)
An employee was directing trucks as they entered and left a highway work zone. A vehicle struck them, resulting in multiple fractures and other injuries. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was assisting the crew with patching and restoring a roadway after the installation of a sewer line. He was helping place and level the blacktop/backfill material over the trench area to bring the road surface back to proper grade. The employee was walking between a forward-moving dump truck and a dirt pile when his right foot was run over by the truck s wheel, causing him to fall. The employee sustained injury to his foot.
An employee was operating a skid steer with a bucket attachment at a demolition site. While driving it to the rear of the property to park it, the employee came into contact with a live electrical transformer unit that was located outside of the facility. The employee sustained electrical burns on his hands extending up to his elbows and a fractured ankle.
An employee was installing a door on a semi-trailer. They were using a forklift to lift the door to the height of the trailer when the door became jammed between the forklift mast and the hinge on the trailer. When the employee went to dislodge the door from the mast, the door fell and crushed their foot. Their big toe was amputated. The employee was hospitalized and their big toe was surgically reattached. The employee's foot and other toes also required surgery.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.