USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station

An employee was moving a piece of an I-beam for welding when it rolled off the cribbing. The employee went to catch it when it fell and crushed the employee's finger, resulting in a partial amputation.

An employee was helping to disassemble large reels used to store steel wire when a 264-pound flange from the reel fell over onto the employee's left leg. The employee sustained multiple fractures to their leg and ligament injuries to the lower leg.

The injured employee was putting away materials on the warehouse floor as a co-worker was pushing a pallet onto a nearby shelf. The pallet knocked another pallet forward, causing it to fall onto the injured employee's shoulders. The employee suffered fractures in their right and left knees and ankles.

Employees were moving a single man lift into a building and reclining the lift to position it to fit through the door. The lift shifted and fell, causing the employee to sustain fractures to the left tibia and fibula. The employee was hospitalized and had surgery.

An employee was moving a light tower so it could be hitched to a truck. He grabbed the tongue of the trailer hitch on the light tower to slide it to the left. The tongue jack fell off, causing the light tower tongue to drop on the employee's right hand. The employee's middle fingertip was amputated.

An employee was loading the back of his truck with buckets of oil. As he was coming down off the truck, he slipped on a surface that was wet due to rain and fell about 3.5 feet to the ground, landing on his left elbow/arm. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured left humerus and required surgery.

On September 25, 2025, an employee climbed an aluminum extension ladder and was on top of the roof of a building She was walking around on the roof, inspecting and evaluating it. She was descending the ladder when the ladder slid to the right and twisted around as she hung onto it. She then fell 10-12 feet to the paved parking lot and the ladder landed on top of her. She sustained a fractured left collarbone, multiple other fractures, and had bruising to the left side of her abdomen.

An employee was supervising a crew as they felled a dangerous tree during a forest fire. The tree struck the employee as it fell, breaking bones.

An employee was riding a horse and leading several pack mules along a trail. A few mules started acting up, causing the horse to stir. The employee then fell off the horse and landed on a stiff woody protrusion that impacted her chest/rib area. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured rib and a punctured lung.

An employee was working on a tree thinning unit and was cutting a 6" diameter tree. During the back-cut when the chainsaw kicked back. The saw struck her, resulting in a 3-inch laceration on her left leg below the knee. She was hospitalized and required surgery.

An employee was on a four-step work stand while sanding an area of an aircraft. He was climbing down the work stand when he tripped over an air hose and fell to the level below, resulting in a fractured femur.

An employee was scanning the placards of pallets of mail bundles when a forklift approached from the opposite side and began lowering and pushing his pallet load forward. It struck the pallet the employee was working on, causing it to shift and strike her. She fell to the ground and sustained a left hip fracture that required surgery.

An X-ray machine had lost power and an employee went to replace the power supply. While replacing a cable on the power supply assembly, the employee's right hand contacted the grounding terminals coming out of the back of the power supply assembly and they received an electric shock. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was servicing equipment and had disconnected a 4-inch line. A proportional control air valve on the equipment actuated, releasing a large volume of air at 99 psi into the 4-inch braided stainless steel line hanging down from the valve. The sudden release of pressure caused the line to whip and strike the employee's face. He was hospitalized due to an orbital bone fracture requiring surgery. The equipment was not locked out/tagged out at the time.

An employee was performing janitorial duties and carrying bathroom supplies when he slipped on a guardrail mounting post and fell on his side. The employee's hip was fractured and required surgery.