Struck by falling object or equipment, unspecified · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Space Exploration Technologies Corp., 1 Rocket Road, BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS 78521
on — Amputations, affecting the fingertip(s).
Final narrative
An employee was holding the bottom of a metal stringer (about 25 feet long and 6 inches wide, made of thin-gauge stainless steel) while others were tack welding it to a tank wall. The tack welds gave way. The stringer dropped about 4 inches and pinched the employee's right index fingertip against the support tooling. The fingertip was amputated without bone loss.
AmputationFingertip(s)Parts and materials, unspecified
More severe injuries at Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. employee was setting up equipment for a welding operation, working from a ladder leaning against a domed vehicle structure. The ladder became unstable at the base, causing the employee to fall about 6 feet and strike their head on the metal leg of a work platform. The employee suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma and was hospitalized.
An employee was performing maintenance on a roll-up door that had four bolts removed from an L-bracket. Two still-installed bolts sheared off while under pressure, causing the employee's right hand to become caught between the bracket and a chain sprocket. The employee suffered an amputation to their middle finger.
An employee was unloading 30-foot 2-inch barrels from a pan holding about 20 barrels. The barrels tipped over, striking and breaking both of the employee's lower legs.
An employee was in a sandblasting area, preparing the surface of a plate heat exchanger frame for painting. The frame fell on the employee, who suffered fractures to vertebrae, the neck, pelvis, and rib cage; and punctured lungs.
A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. employee was setting up equipment for a welding operation, working from a ladder leaning against a domed vehicle structure. The ladder became unstable at the base, causing the employee to fall about 6 feet and strike their head on the metal leg of a work platform. The employee suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma and was hospitalized.
An employee was exiting the maintenance building when she tripped and fell on a paved incline walkway. She caught herself with her left hand and was hospitalized with a fractured left wrist that required surgery.
An employee was troubleshooting a dust collector when they sustained partial amputations to three of their right fingertips from the spinning rotor of the motor.
An employee was deburring a metal piece using a disc sander when their right thumb contacted the sanding surface, resulting in a partial traumatic metacarpophalangeal amputation.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.