Fall on same level due to slipping · Fractures and dislocations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Stericycle Inc, 12316 WORLD TRADE DR STE100, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92128
on — Fractures and dislocations, affecting the head and neck.
Final narrative
An employee was walking in a customer parking lot when he slipped on ice and fell, hitting the back of his head on the ground. The employee suffered a skull fracture and a herniated disk in his neck.
An employee was cutting pieces of a conveyor belt when a piece became caught on the saw. The employee sustained lacerations to their left index and middle fingers, resulting in amputation of the middle fingertip.
An employee was exiting a truck when a 200-gallon container rolled behind him and struck him on the back of his leg. The employee sustained a tendon injury that required surgery.
An employee was using a lift gate to load medical waste containers into the cargo area of a box truck. He fell approximately 4 feet to the pavement, suffering a closed fracture to a lower-back vertebra and a head injury.
An employee was operating the lift gate on his truck to stow it away, when he slipped on ice/water, catching his left thumb on the lift gate. His thumb tip was amputated directly beneath the fingernail.
On November 10, 2021, an employee was loading a box truck. As they used their right hand to raise the lift gate, their left index finger was pinched between the liftgate and the truck. The employee sustained an amputation to the end of the finger.
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 562211)
An employee was backing up a garbage truck at a landfill to empty the truck. A concrete platform gave way, causing the vehicle to slide down into the landfill pit 20 feet below. The employee was flung backward and forward, hitting his head on the dashboard of the vehicle. The employee was hospitalized with a concussion.
An employee was kneeling beneath a loading dock, inspecting the area for future installation of an automatic dock plate. The existing manual dock plate fell off the dock and onto the employee, fracturing their hip.
On June 24, 2025, at 3:25 p.m., an employee had just finished dumping his truck at the recycling facility when they took a break in their truck. They began to experience signs of heat-related illness and left the cab of the truck before temporarily losing consciousness and collapsing. The employee was hospitalized due to dehydration, heat exhaustion, and acute kidney distress.
An employee was descending a ladder. As he stepped down, his foot landed on a pipe, which caused him to lose traction and fall. He sustained multiple torn ligaments, a shattered tibia, and a compound fracture to the heel bone. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a truckload of sulfuric acid/soda ash water mixture at a water treatment plant. Residual mixture in a hose cap spilled onto his right forearm, burning it. He was hospitalized.
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.