Struck by swinging part of powered vehicle · Crushing injuries
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Sky Chefs, Inc., 200 E Touhy Ave., DES PLAINES, ILLINOIS 60016
on — Crushing injuries, affecting the toes(s), toenail(s).
Final narrative
An employee was setting up wheel chocks on the tire of an aircraft. The vehicle that was going to be used to load catered food onto the aircraft deployed its stabilizing outriggers. The outriggers crushed the first digit of the little toe on the employee's left foot.
An employee had provided catering to an airplane and was preparing to descend the elevated box truck. They walked out of the rear door and fell 15 feet to the ground sustaining injuries to the neck and back.
A catering team had just finished serving an aircraft and were participating in training tasks. The truck box was lowered when it was stopped midway, approximately 10-12 feet off the ground. The back door was opened and the injured employee fell to the concrete below, resulting in two wrist fractures.
An employee was switching out a motor during a repair service when the motor fell onto the employee's hand, resulting in a fracture and amputation to a finger.
An employee was climbing down from a tractor trailer bed when they lost their footing and grabbed onto the roll-up door to stop the fall. The roll-up door then fell onto the employee's hand, resulting in a hand fracture that required surgery.
An employee was attempting to remove a tarp from a flatbed trailer when the trailer handle struck the employee in the chest, resulting in two broken ribs and a punctured lung.
An employee was near a backhoe while the operator was getting a broom. The broom handle struck the lever that actuates the swing of the backhoe bucket. The bucket then struck the injured employee, pinning him to the outrigger. The employee suffered crush injuries to the chest.
The injured employee was being trained on loading trucks in the load out bay. The injured employee and his supervisor climbed the stairs that run parallel to the truck and trailer, walked to the upper platform used for observation and sample taking, and saw that the lid of the grain trailer was closed. The employees began working to open the lid which appeared to be stuck due to cold weather. The injured employee pulled on one of the pivot arms that connect the lid to the main body of the trailer. As the lid began to open, the employee s right hand slipped down on the pivot arm and his index finger was caught between the pivot arm and the base of the pivot arm. The employee s right index finger was fractured and three nerves were severed. The employee was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 722320)
An employee was sitting on a milk crate at the back of a loading dock while talking to another employee. She noticed the other employee began shaking. She went to prevent the other employee from falling when she fell off the dock to the concrete ground, resulting in multiple body injuries that required hospitalization.
Two employees were working in the kitchen area of a food trailer. There was a sudden burst of fire in the kitchen, and both employees were engulfed by deflagration of gas which oriented from a propane-powered griddle. They suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns to their head, face, arms, and legs.
An employee loaded his truck. The dock plate was stuck under the carrier dolly and he could not lift the dock plate from the side while standing on the dock. The employee entered the truck and pushed the dolly away from the dock plate. This allowed him to lift the plate from inside the truck. While lifting the plate, his body shifted forward, and he fell between the dock and the truck, resulting in a fractured left wrist.
The injured employee had been conducting food service activities. He was stabbed twice in the chest and three times in the back by another employee using a pocket knife. The employee was hospitalized.
On April 2, 2025, an employee was reassembling a food-sealing machine when the machine activated and a metal plate pinched their right thumb tip, amputating it. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.