Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation · Amputations
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Stella-Jones Corporation, 1051 Alabama 25, BRIERFIELD, ALABAMA 35035
on — Amputations, affecting the finger(s), fingernail(s), n.e.c..
Final narrative
A temporary employee was tacking end plates onto a railroad tie by hand. They reached over to the press that completes the attachment of the end plate after the rail tie crosses over a limit switch. The limit switch activated, resulting in a crush injury to the employee's left index and middle fingers that required medical amputation. The machine was guarded at the time.
The injured employee was assisting a skid steer operator to move a stack of bundled railroad ties. The operator lifted the stack of bundled ties and the band securing the bundle broke, causing the ties to fall and strike the injured employee. The injured employee sustained a fractured hip and both ankles were fractured.
An employee was trying to clear a jam of wood debris (cut-offs) at a transition between a flat belt and a shaker-conveyor. When the employee grabbed a cut-off, it caught the belt and wedged the employee's left index finger between the belt and the shaker-conveyor surface. The finger was amputated. The machine was unguarded at the time of the incident.
An employee was sharpening peeler blades when their shirt was caught in the grinding wheel. The employee sustained tendon damage and a crushed right hand.
An employee was pre-drilling holes in ties on which to set plates and spikes. As the employee pulled the hand drill from a guide hole, the drill caught his pant leg. The drill then went into the right side of his left foot, resulting in a laceration that required hospitalization.
An employee had performed a 90-minute-long welding job on company equipment when they began to feel ill and were hospitalized for heat-related illness.
An employee was sharpening peeler blades when their shirt was caught in the grinding wheel. The employee sustained tendon damage and a crushed right hand.
An employee was preparing to cut lumber on a panel saw when the clamp engaged and caught the employee's left middle finger, resulting in a fingertip amputation.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 321114)
An employee was working from a step ladder and putting grease in a fitting on a cylinder door. His leg was caught between two of the ladder's rungs and the ladder folded up. He fell and broke his leg.
On June 10, 2024, an employee was grinding mulch in a tub grinder. A front end loader was unloading mulch into the tub grinder and ran over his ankle, breaking it and also causing a hairline fracture to his pelvis. He was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
On January 17, 2024, an employee was working on a roller machine when a piece of metal lacerated their right forearm, causing tendon injury. The employee was hospitalized and underwent surgery.
An employee had been warming his hands at a stationary heater near the stacker operator. He was by the rear passenger-side of his parked forklift when another forklift reversed and struck him. His left leg was pinned between the two forklifts and he sustained a fractured fibula.
An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.
An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.
An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.