Planters Grain Cooperative

An employee was on a ladder, adjusting the upper limit switch for an ash expeller. He slipped off the ladder and his left ring finger was caught between the expeller piping and the moving ram cylinder, resulting in a finger fracture and an amputated fingertip.

An employee stood on a conveyor wall to unclog the cotton feeder. The employee fell on the moving conveyor and fractured his right arm. The employee was hospitalized.

Multiple employees were using baling buckets to remove 750 gallons of 150-degree hydraulic oil out of a pit in a confined space for approximately 5.5 hours. The injured employee was standing on a ladder performing this task when they fell feet-first into the hydraulic oil pit, resulting in burns on both legs.

An employee was climbing down a ladder. The ladder was unsecured and the employee fell, severely cutting his right arm on metal siding. He was hospitalized and required surgery.

An electrician was on a 9-foot scaffold performing valve maintenance on an 8-inch line near a heat exchanger. The electrician was working to cycle a valve that failed to close. Due to a misaligned drain line and an open manual valve, hot liquid dextrose (~250 F) was released onto the floor below, creating a steam cloud. The electrician was evacuating the scaffold using the scaffold ladder when they slipped and fell 5-6 feet into the hot liquid, sustaining first- and second-degree burns to multiple parts of their body including both arms, both hands, their back, and their buttocks.

An employee was helping clean the bag house. He checked under the auger in the dust collection system to feel for airflow. His right hand was sucked up into the auger blade, resulting in amputation of the middle finger to the distal joint. Surgery was required to amputate to the finger to the second knuckle.

On August 22, 2025, an employee was working to remove a blockage of grain from a spout in the basement. The gate was manually closed from the floor above to stop the flow of grain to the leg. The gate closed down on the employee, causing the amputation of their left middle fingertip.

An employee was walking with a pole hand tool when he slipped on fertilizer product that was on the floor and fell backward. The employee sustained fractured ribs and a collapsed right lung.

On June 22, 2025, at approximately 4:30 PM, an employee was working in a field with knife-style anhydrous applicator equipment used to fertilize corn. The employee inhaled anhydrous ammonia. The employee had difficulty breathing and speaking. They were hospitalized with a respiratory tract injury/irritation.

While working near a cotton baler, an employee sustained a spider bite that resulted in swelling and required hospitalization.

After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.

An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.

An employee was inspecting flares processes. The employee received burns to the front side of the body, face and arm from the flares.

An employee was removing plastic material from a production line when the machine cycled and amputated his left index, ring, and little fingers.

An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.