Metalplate Galvanizing, L.P.

A forklift was lifting an 800-pound steel frame. An employee was waiting to place wire beneath it when it slid off the forklift and landed on his left hand. He suffered a broken little finger, nerve damage, and a laceration.

The injured employee was helping a co-worker secure finishing material to a pallet using steel strapping (5/8" wide, 0.20" thick). The co-worker went to hand the strapping to the injured employee when they bent down and their right eye contacted the steel strapping, resulting in a laceration to the cornea and injury to the retina.

On November 25, 2024, an employee was leading the galvanizing crew. A finished galvanized beam was exiting the kettle when the support chain broke, causing molten zinc to splash the employee. The employee sustained burns to his chest and left forearm area.

An employee was moving solar beams (250-pound I-beams) from a stack using a specially designed tool to lower one beam at a time onto rollers. Once lowered onto rollers, the beam could then be navigated through the remainder of production. A beam was lowered onto his right-hand fingers and the employee sustained amputations of their distal middle and ring fingers.

Employees were working in the finishing department preparing 180-pound steel frames for transport. A standing steel frame fell over onto the injured employee's left foot, resulting in bone exposure of the big toe. The toe was partially surgically amputated.

An employee was walking past a crossover conveyor when a ramp came down and hit them in the back. The employee sustained a broken back vertebra, as well as a concussion, and was hospitalized.

An employee was unloading frameless mirrors from a trailer. When unstrapped, the mirrors fell over onto the employee, who suffered a skull fracture, a brain bleed and blood clot, a broken left ankle, and lacerations.

A temporary employee was rigging secondary steel when the steel joist fell to the ground and struck his lower left leg, resulting in fractures to the tibia and fibula.

Two maintenance employees were dismantling a machine part (steel cylindrical rollers) on the ground. After unbolting a portion, part of the assembly fell approximately 6 inches onto one employee's left little finger. The employee was hospitalized and about 3/4" of their little finger above the top joint was surgically amputated.

An employee was stacking a pallet when the pallet fell, injuring her left leg. She was hospitalized and had surgery on her left leg.

An employee was cutting steel channels from a hanging rack that was being supported by a forklift. When they were finished, the forklift started moving the rack out of the area and a piece of material snagged one of the rack legs, causing the rack to tilt backward. The rack slipped off the forklift and struck the employee on his right side/lower back. He sustained a fractured pelvis and was hospitalized.

An employee was working to remove waste wire between two boat rack/spreader bars (10 feet in length, 8 inches wide, and 16 inches tall, with a center lifting point for a crane hook) in the hanging department. One boat rack was leaning on another boat rack. The employee reached between the boat racks to move the leaning boat rack and remove the waste wire. The leaning boat rack shifted and the employee's left index finger was pinched between the two racks (weighing approximately 600 pounds each). The employee sustained an abrasive amputation of the left index fingertip from the nailbed up.

An employee was performing maintenance on a coating machine and the belt cover guard was removed to repair the belt. The moving belt caught the employee's fingers and pulled them between the belts, injuring three fingers on the employee's left hand. The fingernails were removed from their little and middle fingers. The ring finger was amputated at the first knuckle.

An employee tripped, fell to the floor, and suffered a broken right radius. The employee was hospitalized, requiring surgery.

An employee was stacking steel grating. The grating moved and their right ring finger got caught between grating. The last digit of the ring finger was amputated.

An employee was traveling down the maintenance aisle of a warehouse on a single-pallet front rider jack. The jack malfunctioned, causing the brakes to apply; the employee fell forward onto the concrete warehouse floor. The employee suffered an injury to the left leg and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.

An employee was operating a metal roller machine to roll a small piece of metal. The employee's right index finger became caught between the metal and the machine, and the fingertip was amputated.

An employee was shot in the leg with a pistol during an altercation with two people who had entered the store without permission.

An employee was directing a truck driver to a dump site when the truck's peanut trailer slipped off the kingpin. As the trailer fell, a ladder attached to it lacerated the employee's ear. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was unloading a forklift from a trailer to the ground. The employee was climbing down the ladder of the trailer when their foot slipped through one of the rungs, causing them to fall backward onto the forklift forks. The employee was hospitalized for fractured ribs.