Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue · Third or fourth degree chemical burns and corrosions
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at HB Fuller, 9001 W. Fey Drive, FRANKFORT, ILLINOIS 60423
on — Third or fourth degree chemical burns and corrosions, affecting the arm(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was loading a mix tank with cyanoacrylate. The drum was elevated on a drum tipper with a plastic spout attached. The employee went to open the spout but the entire spout came out of the drum. The cyanoacrylate splashed onto the employee saturating the left sleeve of their shirt. The employee removed the saturated garment but had already sustained burns from the shirt adhering to their arm. The employee was hospitalized with second- and third-degree burns.
On November 27, 2023, an employee was emptying a 2-inch product line that transports sodium hydroxide liquid from a rail car to a 275-gallon tote tank. The nozzle came out of the tote and sprayed sodium hydroxide onto the employee's face. The employee was hospitalized with chemical burns to their face, mouth, and neck.
An employee was working with sulfuric acid as part of the production process. While transferring the chemical from a large container to a smaller container, it splashed on his body and hand, resulting in a chemical burn.
An employee knelt in wet concrete while performing work as a concrete finisher and sustained a chemical burn to the right shin. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was using a 5-gallon bucket to unload acid product from a tank. Residual product leaked into the containment area, causing the employee to sustain first- and second-degree burns to the chest, as well as third-degree burns to the arms.
An employee was transferring an alkaline cleaning chemical from a bulk container into 1-gallon containers. The employee lifted a gallon container by its label tag. The tag broke causing the container to fall approximately 14-18 inches. The container struck the ground and the contents splashed onto the employee causing chemical burns to their eyes.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 325520)
An employee was rolling up sheets of sealant using a rotating mandrel when her right hand was caught in the mandrel. Her right arm was pulled into the roll of material. The employee was hospitalized with three fractures to her right arm.
An employee worked a full shift and later started cramping up due to exposure to heat and high humidity. The employee was hospitalized with heat exhaustion.
At 2:05 p.m., the injured employee was shadowing another operator. They went into the aerosol gashouse as part of training. As they entered, the self-closing overhead door shut while the injured employee's right hand was still on the edge. The employee's little fingertip was caught and partially amputated between the door and the frame.
An employee fell from the top of a fixed ladder, passing through the ladder's access opening and landing on the floor about 6-7 feet below. He suffered nine broken ribs (four on the left side and five on the right), as well as a punctured lung. He was hospitalized.
On April 8, 2025, an employee was unjamming a conveyor belt. It reactivated, and his right little finger was caught between the belt and a conveyor roller. He suffered a partial amputation of the fingertip.
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.