Struck by discharged object or substance · Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Walters Painting, Fort Liberty, NC SOF HPTC FORGE Project, FORT LIBERTY, NORTH CAROLINA 28307
on — Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds, affecting the hand(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On 9/13/2023, an employee had been painting a drywall ceiling and needed to change nozzle tips on an airless paint sprayer. He began unscrewing the nozzle when the sprayer discharged the needle into his right hand and injected paint under the skin. The employee required surgery.
An employee was installing wood trim surrounding a skylight inside a home. While holding a piece of trim in it's desired location, his pneumatic nail gun discharged, sending a 3/4-inch pin nail into his left forearm.
An employee removed a safety valve on a trailer that unknowingly contained nitrogen gas. The gas released from the trailer and pushed the employee backward off a scaffold approximately 10 feet before they struck a garage door, resulting in a pelvic injury.
An employee was sitting at her workstation when a nail gun malfunctioned and shot a nail into her left leg. She suffered a puncture and blood vessel injury and was hospitalized.
On November 25, 2023, an employee was using a high-pressured water hose to perform sewer line cleaning operations. The employee's right little finger and palm were lacerated by pressurized water from the hose.
An employee was on a 12-foot extension ladder while painting the wall and soffit area of a pavilion less than 6 feet off the ground. The employee was using a sprayer when he fell off ladder and landed on his arm on the dirt clay ground. The employee sustained a dislocated elbow and fractures to his right arm and wrist that included an open fracture. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was blasting a water tower. They fell approximately 60 feet off a suspended scaffold and sustained broken vertebrae, a compound fracture of the tibia, a fractured heel, and a rupture to their liver. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was sandblasting paint from a water tower when the blasting media sprayed across their forearm, resulting in an elbow injury that required hospitalization.
An employee was working from a boom lift, painting wood trim at a second-story roof level. The lift drove over an unmarked dry well, tipped, and catapulted the employee to the ground. The employee sustained fractures to their heels and vertebrae. Fall protection was not being worn at the time of the incident.
On October 2, 2025, an employee was ascending a ladder attached to a scaffold structure approximately 10 feet high. While climbing up, he lost his grip on a rung and fell to the ground, landing on his shoulder. He was hospitalized with fractures to his collarbone and shoulder.
An employee was attaching a steel angle plate weighing (approximately 200 pounds) to the end of a structural member (5,000 pounds) and was supported by dunnage. The dunnage was a crane mat (11 inches tall) with a 4x6 board on top of it and it supported five identical members. The main piece was 30.75 feet long, 37.25 feet tall, and 1 food wide. As the employee slid the piece of metal on top of the member to begin attaching it, the entire member began to tip over. The employee went to stop the main piece from tipping over and it landed on his ankle, fracturing it.
An employee was preparing hot melted butter on a flat-top grill and placing it in small containers once it was melted. As she turned to set the container down, it slipped out of her hand and landed on the grill. Butter splashed up and hit her in the face. The employee suffered second-degree burns to her right eye and the right side of her head and face, as well as first-degree burns to her right forearm.
An employee pulled into the customer's driveway, parked, and exited the vehicle. He opened the sliding side door on the vehicle to retrieve a package. The customer began backing their vehicle out of their garage and it struck the employee in the back of his left leg. He was pinned him between the two vehicles, causing contusions and lacerations.