Zaenkert Surveying Essentials

An employee was painting a round module when a front-end loader ran over his right leg and crushed it.

An employee was operating a switch truck at a rail yard. He got out of the switch truck to unlock a container that was attached to a unit in front of him. The switch truck rolled and pinned the employee against the container. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis, a ruptured spleen, and a possible spinal cord injury.

On October 16, 2025, an employee was entering a parking lot after completing their work shift when they were struck by a vehicle being operated by a customer. The employee fell backward from the impact and the back of their head struck the asphalt. The employee was hospitalized due to brain bleed and a skull fracture.

An employee was moving branches and other material when they were struck in the leg by the track of a skid-steer loader, resulting in an ankle and lower leg injury.

An employee was waiting for an operator to bring mail over to a mail sorting machine when she became pinned between the machine and a stack of pallets being pushed by a powered industrial truck (PIT). The employee suffered bruising and swelling on her hips, lower back, knees, and left side; a puncture wound to her left thigh from a machine screw; a crushed right hand with numbness and tingling; numbness to the left big toe; and a right wrist sprain.

An employee was performing surveying work and was actively engaged in laying out geophysical nodes as part of a seismic exploration project. This task required the employee to carry and place geophysical equipment at specific intervals along the survey path, under outdoor environmental conditions. The employee sustained heat stroke.

An employee was opening a metal gate and went to open the lock when a wasp stung her hand. The employee sustained an allergic reaction.

At about 9:15 a.m. on March 10, 2025, an employee was riding along a hardpack snow-covered roadway on a snowmobile. The snowmobile went over a berm and tipped/rolled, causing the employee to fall to the ground. He suffered a collapsed left lung and was hospitalized.

A survey instrument operator was watching the survey crew chief perform a topographic survey on an existing bridge abutment wingwall. The employee moved down the side slope behind the wingwall to take survey shots of the top of the wingwall. He slipped and fell over a 15-foot abutment wall, onto wood brush and the ground below, landing on his back. The employee sustained a fractured vertebra in his back.

An employee was cleaning the boat and turtle traps while other crew members were pulling items such as ice chests, paddles/push poles, and the electrical conduit from the boat. The electrical conduit was then leaned against the front of the boat to be washed. The injured employee then got into the boat to help lift a box of nets. To pull the box from the gunwale, the employee exited the boat, and as they did, the electrical conduit suddenly shifted. One fell toward the employee and as it fell, the employee landed on the end of the pole and was impaled. The employee was hospitalized for internal bleeding and required surgery.

An employee was working to deliver mail to an apartment building. She was waiting for a customer to move, to obtain clearance to the mailboxes. The door swung inward and closed on her right little finger. The top half of her finger was surgically amputated.

An employee fell from a step ladder while reaching for a tie-off point. He impacted the ground, and landed on his bolt bag which contained tools. The employee was hospitalized with fractured ribs, and a lacerated spleen and kidney.

On October 30, 2025, an employee was working to adjust a stackable metal shipping container. As the container dropped into place, it caught the employee's hands in an area between the upper and lower cross-members. The employee suffered a laceration to the left ring finger that required stitches, bruising to the right ring finger, and fractures to the right middle finger that necessitated medical amputation of the fingertip.

An employee was moving a scissor lift through a doorway. The employee was pinned between the scissor lift and the doorframe, sustained a back injury, and was hospitalized.

An employee was setting up communication equipment for a meeting. They were walking and tripped over a speaker on the ground. The employee sustained a leg injury.