Injured by slipping or swinging object held by injured worker · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Professional Telecommunication Services Inc., 321 8th Street, VANDENBERG AFB, CALIFORNIA 93437
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
An employee was drilling a hole in a trailer wall to mount a camera. He stopped midway to replace the drill bit with an extension. The drill then activated as he was tightening the chuck with his left hand. It amputated his left little finger and dislocated the ring and middle fingers.
An employee was using a saw to cut a piece of concrete when the piece gave way and pushed the saw into the employee's leg. The employee's leg was lacerated, requiring stitches and hospitalization.
An employee was grinding some hardfacing on a bulldozer blade when the 9-inch grinder kicked back and lacerated his left leg above the knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was operating a rotating tool to place thread protectors on the end of pipe. Her left hand was on the rotating part of the tool when the tool engaged, resulting in a left forearm fracture and a thumb laceration.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 238210)
An employee was troubleshooting the control setup for a variable air volume box above a ceiling. The employee's hand came into contact with an exposed, energized 277-volt wire that had loosened from its terminal on the box's assembly. He was shocked and fell off a ladder. His left hand passed across the ceiling grid and was lacerated. He also suffered an electrical burn to the right hand and was hospitalized.
An employee was moving a scissor lift through a doorway. The employee was pinned between the scissor lift and the doorframe, sustained a back injury, and was hospitalized.
An employee was standing on an A-frame ladder approximately 6 feet above the floor while he attached a suspended light fixture to the ceiling. The employee lost balance, and fell to the tiled floor below, sustaining blunt force trauma to his head.
An employee was inspecting the overhead area of a single-person lift and repositioning the lift through a double doorway. As they were transitioning through the doorway, they were caught between the doorframe and the vertical mast of the lift. The employee was hospitalized with injuries to the nose, left maxillary sinus, left orbital bone, and left jaw, with fractures at the maxillary sinus area.
The injured employee was performing routine maintenance on a fan belt/pulley. The injured employee and another person were moving the pulley back and forth manually to find a bearing issue. The injured employee's left ring finger got caught between the belt and the pulley wheel, resulting in a soft tissue amputation.
The injured employee was assisting a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enforcement operation. During an apprehension, officers returned fire at a subject and struck the employee with a bullet. The employee sustained a gunshot wound to their right hand.
The injured employee was assisting in the disassembly phase after a radar array had been lowered and secured. The crew began removing load bearing pins from an overhead crane to free the radome. A load bearing pin was stuck. The injured employee went to remove the pin manually as a second team member applied pressure from the opposite side. The pin unexpectedly released and struck the injured employee s right thumb, resulting in partial amputation of the distal phalanx including an open distal phalanx fracture and nail bed laceration.
At about 3:10 p.m. on October 3, 2025, an employee was inspecting a car. Two dogs that had been in another car were leashed and tethered to a bollard. As the employee inspected the first car along with a narcotics detection dog, one of the other dogs came loose and attacked the narcotics dog. The employee was separating the dogs when the other dog bit his left ring finger. The last joint of the finger was injured and part of it was bitten off.
An employee was preparing a bundle of green onions for chopping. While holding the bundle in his left hand, he made his first cut using a 9-inch kitchen knife held in his right hand. The knife contacted the tip of his left thumb, resulting in an amputation of approximately 0.5 inches of the thumb that required hospitalization.