Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Northwest Cranberry, LLC, 11114 Haycreek Rd, PITTSVILLE, WISCONSIN 54466
on — Fractures , affecting the Back lumbar region.
Final narrative
An employee was assisting with loading a cranberry rake onto a flatbed truck. The rake fell off the forks of an end loader and landed on the employee, breaking vertebrae in his lower back.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was helping to move a 1,300-pound coil on a cart. The steel caster hit a crack in the concrete, the weld holding the caster onto the cart broke, and the coil and cart tipped over onto the employee. He was hospitalized with a laceration on his forehead and a pelvic fracture on his right side.
An employee was attempting to lift a steel beam from a horizontal, stacked position to a vertical position using a crane. They had placed two hooks on the east side of the beam on the flange. As the employee was hoisting the crane, the beam began to shift and pulled the employee forward onto the stack. When the material shifted, the hooks released and the material fell, pinning the employee between the two beams. The employee was hospitalized with soft tissue contusions on their proximal right thigh and interior left thigh.
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
An employee was clearing a jam in a box shaping machine when the machine energized while the employee's hand was near a chain and sprocket. The employee sustained a partial amputation to their right little finger and two broken fingers.
An employee connected a hose to the valve connector on a mini-tote. As the employee was turning the handle of the valve to allow potassium thiosulfate fertilizer to flow through the hose, the connection burst from a suspected chemical reaction between the fertilizer and an unknown substance. The valve broke into pieces and the fertilizer spilled, causing chemical burns to the employee's eyes and right wrist. The employee also sustained a displaced fracture to a finger.
An employee was operating a roll-up side mechanism on a greenhouse and suffered a right thumb amputation when their shirt was snagged by the mechanism and twisted tightly around his upper arm and hand.
The injured employee was cutting tree branches with other employees, when a tree branch fell and struck the injured employee in the head. The employee sustained a bruised head and a possible concussion.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
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 on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.