Fall, slip, trip, unspecified · Traumatic injuries and disorders, unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Liberty Utilities, 602 South Joplin Avenue, JOPLIN, MISSOURI 64801
on — Traumatic injuries and disorders, unspecified, affecting the nonclassifiable.
Final narrative
An employee tripped upon stepping over a metal guard while picking up wires in a service truck.
An employee was training on the use of a self-recovery device. As he lowered himself from a bucket, the rope broke and he fell 18 to 20 feet to the ground. A vertebra in his lower back was fractured and he was hospitalized.
Air pressure was being applied to an underground natural gas line. The air escaped from the line, and air and dirt entered an employee's skin under his pants leg. He suffered a serious leg injury.
An employee was walking to their truck to look for a lid. When they stepped between the truck and a dock plate, they sustained a knee injury that required surgery.
An employee was standing on plant bed timbers, using a powered hand trimmer to trim the shrubs in the plant bed. The timber gave way, breaking into several pieces. The employee lost balance and fell with the trimmer in his hand. He suffered a severe laceration to the right wrist and hand.
An employee was loading phosphoric acid onto a rail car and preparing to secure the rail car for transport. While repositioning the loadout spout to secure it back to the drip pan holster on the dock, the spout contacted the handrail of the rail car, causing the employee to lose balance. The employee stepped back and their right foot entered the opening for the rail car, causing him to twist/pivot on his left leg. The employee's lower left leg was fractured.
On November 14, 2023, an employee was receiving a delivery from a truck when some of the merchandise fell from the truck s lift and struck him. He then fell to the ground and his head struck the sidewalk, resulting in an injury that required hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 926130)
Two employees were working from inside a man basket attached to a forklift. While attaching the tail rigging to one of the turbine blades, the man basket attached to the forklift failed, causing the employees to fall approximately 20 feet to the ground. One employee sustained fractures to their left foot and right femur and shin, as well as dislocations to their right knee and left shoulder. The other employee was not injured.
An employee and two crewmembers were dispatched to repair downed utility conductors after a tree fell onto the facilities and caused a power outage. The injured employee climbed the utility pole to untie the conductor so the team could pull the conductor up into position from the ground. The employee attached a web hoist to the conductor and needed to reposition the hoist to continue removing slack. As he resumed pulling slack with the web hoist, the pole made a cracking sound and subsequently fell in the direction he was working. The pole then fell to the ground with the injured employee still attached, resulting in fractured ribs, a compression fracture of their vertebrae, and a laceration to the chin.
An employee was walking through a parking lot to another building when she tripped and fell to the ground, resulting in a concussion and a neck injury.
On September 16, 2024, an employee was hooking up a lead to a gas meter in a customer's backyard when the employee was bitten by a copperhead snake. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was readjusting a safety hook to remove hardware from gang forms when his feet slipped. He fell to the ground, resulting in a broken left arm and wrist.
An employee was on a step ladder in a store aisle, making room on shelving for merchandise. She fell from the step ladder to the floor, suffering two fractures in her left leg. She was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was closing the side cargo door to a company van. The tip of his finger got caught between the door and the door jamb, resulting in a partial amputation.
An employee lost his footing while climbing an inclined ladder. He stumbled down one step and was able to stabilize himself by holding the railing and twisting his body, but he suffered an internal abdominal injury and was hospitalized.