Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, KITTERY, MAINE 03904
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Other finger(s) n.e.c..
Final narrative
A mechanic was lowering a vertical launch system (VLS) cover when they slipped on the side shell and their finger became caught between the work platform frame and grating. The employee sustained a partial amputation to the right middle finger through part of the nail bed.
Amputation Other finger(s) n.e.c. Water vehicle n.e.c.
An employee was molding a steel plate using a shaping press when pressure released and the steel plate struck the employee. The employee was knocked to the ground and sustained a lower back injury.
An employee was walking from his car to the office building, slipped on snow and ice, and fell striking his head on the ground. The employee sustained a concussion.
An employee was performing maintenance on an abrasive blasting pot. Residual air pressure in the pot caused the cover and blasting grit to strike the employee's face and neck area causing contusion/abrasion injuries and particulate in the right eye.
An employee was preparing a barge for the end of a day's drilling operations. He was setting a spud on the barge when the spud struck him and broke his right leg.
A team of employees was moving boats from one slip in a marina to another using rope. An employee slipped while moving around in a boat and suffered a broken left femur.
The injured employee was standing by the controls for the electric spud system on the barge, preparing to raise the spuds. Meanwhile, an excavator was moving a mat on the deck. As the excavator swung from port to starboard, it's counterweight struck the injured employee s shoulder, causing them to lose balance and fall against the spud controls. The employee sustained bruises and contusions to their right shoulder and chest.
An employee was inserting dogbone links (4 feet 9 inches in length) into the slots between sectional barges to connect the barges. A dogbone link became stuck in the slot and needed to slide down approximately 1 foot to be seated. The employee went to lift the dogbone link up and adjust it when the link became free. A burr on the flange of the link snagged the employee's right glove. The link slid into a seated position and the employee's right middle finger was caught between the top surface of the barge and the top flange of the dogbone link. The finger was partially amputated at the midsection of the distal phalanx.
An employee was hooking up bundled tie-downs with a chain. While he was holding a hook, the other hook was unlocked. This caused the employee's hook to slide down and pinch his right index finger between the chain and the shackle. He suffered an amputation to the fingertip (without bone loss), as well as an open fracture.
An employee was preparing to bend a flat bar in a brake press. When the machine was jogged, the stock rotated up and crushed his left middle fingertip against the outer frame of the die. The fingertip was amputated.
An employee was cutting metal with a torch. A piece of metal struck the employee's left foot, causing multiple fractures to metatarsal(s). The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was descending a ladder carrying a bag of trash. He fell, landed on the ground about 10 feet below, and suffered fractures to his right hip and pelvis.
A crew was installing drilled micropiles alongside an outdoor covered deck foundation. The injured employee was working the front of the drill when a loose section of casing dropped onto the tip of a rig wrench and pulled the wrench down to an embedded casing. The employee's left little finger was caught between the rig wrench and the embedded casing and was amputated above the top knuckle.
Two employees were working to change a tire on a mobile slasher saw. The slasher weighs around 2,000 pounds and is towed. Employee 2 was lifting the saw while the injured employee was placing a block of wood under the frame for support. The slasher then lowered onto the block and the injured employee's left thumb was crushed between the slasher frame and the wood block, leading to an amputation at the first knuckle.
An employee was using a crane to move a 44-foot, 3,343-pound I-beam. As the beam was moving west, it straightened out (north to south), beginning to swing south toward the northwest corner of a building. The crane then sent the beam southward, directly toward the corner of the building. The beam caught the tips of the employee's left index, middle, and ring fingers against the building. The last joints of the middle and ring fingers were amputated, and the last joint of the index finger was partially crushed.
An employee was standing on a step stool, removing the nuts and bolts from the frame of a solar panel that was being replaced. The employee's cheek made contact with a connector with damaged insulation. The employee was shocked, briefly lost consciousness, and fell to the ground, suffering an injury to the left shoulder.