Fall to lower level resulting in exposure or contact unspecified · Amputations involving bone loss
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Churchill Farm Partners, 4632 N 18000E Road, MOMENCE, ILLINOIS 60954
on — Amputations involving bone loss, affecting the Knee(s).
Final narrative
An employee was loading a semi-trailer with corn. When climbing out of the silo, he slipped and fell onto the auger on the outside of the silo. His feet became entangled in the auger and were severed from the ankle down. A surgical amputation of both legs from the knees down was required.
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.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 111199)
An employee climbed an aluminum extension ladder inside a grain bin to help remove a stirring machine. As the farmer began to lower the stirring machine from the top, one of the ropes broke, causing the stirring machine to strike the ladder and knock it out from under the employee. The employee fell to the base of the grain bin and sustained fractures requiring hospitalization.
An employee was assembling salads for packaging when her smock/apron got caught in the conveyor belt. The employee removed the ensnared smock and sprained her left shoulder. The employee was hospitalized.
Two employees were working on a roof that was approximately 18 feet above the lower level. The downspout for the grain bin (from a leg) was clogged and was removed by the two employees. While cleaning it, the injured employee slid off the roof and landed on their feet, fracturing their left ankle. Fall protection was not worn at the time.
An employee was moving equipment when a loader bucket became dislodged from the holding pins and it fell on the injured employee's legs. This resulted in a lower leg amputation.
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.