The Western Sugar Cooperative

An employee was walking to a storeroom. The employee slipped on a metal plate (which was lying on the floor to protect a height transition in the concrete floor), fell, and landed on his left hip where a two-way radio was attached. He suffered a broken femur.

An employee slipped and fell down stairs, breaking the right ankle.

An employee was changing filter bags on a pan water filter. As the employee was form-fitting the filter to the basket, 200-degree water flowed into the employee's glove, causing second degree burns (and a subsequent infection) to the employee's left wrist/hand.

An employee was struck by a powered industrial truck while working in the finished goods warehouse. The employee was hospitalized for treatment of a broken left hip.

An employee was inspecting a generator whose radiator was leaking. He slipped, and a fan blade in the generator amputated his thumb and index finger.

A temporary employee turned off a planer machine, opened the housing, and began clearing a jam. The machine's spinning blade caught his right hand and degloved the index finger.

An employee was using a tool to remove a rag from a roll on the tube mill. The roll pulled the tool and the employee's right hand into the roll, resulting in a partial amputation of the little finger and a fracture to the index finger.

A casting machine jammed. An employee's hand was caught in the machine, where a belt line caught and amputated the tip of his finger.

A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.

An employee was helping change out socks on hard thin juice filters, part of a beet sugar manufacturing operation. While the filter lid was being removed, juice started leaking down the side of the filter. This suggested that the juice was bypassing the seat on the main shutoff valve. While the main shutoff was being checked, the valve was opened and sprayed hot juice on the employee. The employee suffered burns to the left arm, the left ribcage area, the left side of the back, and the left side of the face. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was removing a beet elevating belt while mechanics were cutting a hole in the center of the belt to install the pulley point using an oscillating tool with a hook blade. The tool popped out of the belt and the tool struck the injured employee in the stomach, resulting in a laceration on the lower left abdomen.

An employee was performing maintenance on a lime kiln sump pump when they sustained second- and third-degree chemical and thermal burns.

An employee was troubleshooting the precoat/overflow tank when scalding liquid (juice) began to leak out of the tank and contacted the employee. The employee was hospitalized for burns.

An employee was crouched down, working on an electrical box for a motor in the final clarifier. As the employee stood up, he became lightheaded, caused him to step off a concrete pillar and fall 10 feet 4 inches to the floor. The employee was hospitalized with a concussion.

An employee was delivering materials. He was doing his pre-delivery inspection on the roof of the jobsite (a warehouse) when he fell through a plexiglass skylight. He landed on his feet on the concrete floor 14 feet below. The employee sustained fractures to his spine, left ulnar/radius, and right heel. The employee required surgery.

An employee was cutting cabinet trim using a table saw when four fingers on his left hand were severed, resulting in hospitalization and amputation.

An employee was removing packaging from a roll of printing substrate. The blade of their utility knife got stuck. The employee used both hands to free the knife and the blade partially amputated their left little fingertip.

A concrete batch plant operator was assisting with clearing spoil piles using a skid steer. The skid steer backed into a stationary screen plant. The employee's left little finger was crushed between the controls of the skid steer and the screen plant, resulting in a fracture and laceration. The employee's finger was surgically amputated.

An employee was standing on an extension ladder, using a torquing tool to remove bolts that secured blades to a rotor. When the torquing tool activated, its reaction arm came around and pinched the employee's right middle finger against a lifting eye. His fingertip was amputated.