Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at AMERICAN ORDNANCE LLC, IOWA ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, MIDDLETOWN, IOWA 52638
on — Heat (thermal) burns, unspecified, affecting the head, unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was pushing a cart loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition shells into an oven. The funnel broke off, causing an explosive to go off. The employee sustained burns on the right side of his head.
An employee was walking on the sidewalk near the administrative building when he slipped on ice and fell to the concrete ground. The employee suffered a left hip fracture and was hospitalized.
An employee was working from a set of portable metal stairs, cleaning ammunition rounds with a drill brush. The wheel from a cart struck the stairs as the cart was pulled forward, causing the employee's leg to slip off the stairs and be caught between the stairs and a bollard. The employee suffered a broken tibia and fibula and was hospitalized.
An employee was sitting in the cab of the truck while waste oxidizer was being offloaded. The waste reacted with the receiving tank and an explosion occurred in the tank. Fire traveled through the hose to the tanker truck, causing it to explode. The employee jumped from the burning truck and was hospitalized with burns to his face, chest, and arms.
An employee was installing piping and valves for fire protection systems in the vicinity of an electrical meter outside of a new warehouse. The meter exploded, causing burns to the employee's face and arms.
An employee was pouring molten aluminum into a drain pot. The aluminum touched moisture at the bottom of the drain pot and an explosion occurred. The employee sustained burns to their face, hands, and legs.
An employee was operating an oxygen-deficient oven that required manual ignition to make charcoal from wood. As the oven was opened, oxygen was introduced to the environment, resulting in an explosion. The employee sustained head trauma as well as fractures to the arms and legs.
An employee was setting up the electrical parts for a fireworks display. They were inserting an e-match when it generated friction with something else. A 3-inch firework shell ignited, injuring the employee's hand and head.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 332993)
An employee was working on a production line. The employee went to retrieve parts that came out of the parts holder, and their left hand became caught between a chain and a sprocket. Three fingers on the hand were amputated.
At about 2:15 p.m. on February 10, 2025, employees were unloading pallets of propellant into a storage warehouse. The pallets were double stacked, and a top-loaded pallet had shifted in transit. Two employees were manually moving the pallet when the fiber packs shifted, causing one employee's left index finger to be pinched between the fiber pack and the pallet. The employee suffered a partial amputation to the fingertip.
An employee was walking on the sidewalk near the administrative building when he slipped on ice and fell to the concrete ground. The employee suffered a left hip fracture and was hospitalized.
A CNC operator was trying to replace a bearing in the hydraulically operated steadying fixture in a CNC machine. The fixture retracted, amputating the end of his right thumb.
An employee was changing an insert in the tool head of a CNC machine. The employee had stepped up approximately 28 inches onto the door track of the machine. When the employee went to step back down to the floor, they lost balance and fell backward onto a rack of metal parts. The employee sustained a compression fracture to the spine.
On September 29, 2025, a rural mail carrier was delivering parcels to a business when she tripped on a parking stop block in front of the business. She fell to the ground and sustained fractures to her left hip and pelvis. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was walking to the back door of the post office when they slipped on the icy ground due to freezing rain and fell. The employee sustained a torn rotator cuff in their right shoulder and a fractured right hip.
An employee was on top of an APC to access a radio on a shelf when they slipped and fell to the ground. They sustained three fractured ribs, a fractured right scapula and right clavicle, a knot on top of their head, and a laceration to their left leg.