Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Piedmont Western Utility Services Inc., 91 Gas Plant Lane, RENOVO, PENNSYLVANIA 17764
on — Fractures , affecting the Multiple trunk locations.
Final narrative
An employee was spotting for an excavator that was pulling an old pipe from the ground. The wall of an adjacent excavation caved in and caused the excavator to tip into it. The top knuckle of the excavator boom struck the injured employee on the lower back, resulting in a fractured pelvis and ribs.
An employee was pulling a steel parts handcart when its wheels caught on something and locked up. The cart fell backward. The cart handle struck the middle of the employee's right foot, breaking bones. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.
An employee was manually moving a tall cart filled with pints of ice cream within the facility. While transferring the cart toward the exterior of the receiving area, the cart passed over a floor drainage grate, became unstable, and fell toward the employee, pinning him underneath. The cart and its contents landed on his lower right leg, resulting in multiple fractures.
An employee was re-arranging boxes of pipe insulation on a pallet. One of the boxes fell from the pallet and knocked over an upright empty cylinder. The cylinder fell and crushed the tip of the employee's right toe. The employee's toe required surgical amputation.
An employee was moving a ramming machine to a staging area. While using the controls on the side of the machine, there was a sudden heavy rainfall causing the equipment to slide. The ramming machine tipped over and caught the employee against the ground. The employee sustained a fracture to the right side of their pelvis and was hospitalized.
An employee was transporting a cart containing instruments and packs to the operating room. The cart tipped over and fell on top of the employee. They sustained pain in their lower back and radiculopathy in their lower extremities.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 237120)
An employee was acting as a spotter for a forklift operator. While its forks were being raised, the forklift came into contact with a power line. The employee was touching the forklift's metal frame at the time and was shocked on the left palm. The employee suffered burns to both the left palm and the sole of the left foot.
An employee was working as a fire watch. The employee was exposed to anhydrous ammonia and was not able to see while climbing down a ladder due to eye irritation. The employee fell and was hospitalized for a broken ankle.
An employee was standing on the ground awaiting the lowering of a pipe. After the pipe was lowered to the ground by a skid steer, it rolled and struck the employee's left leg. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured leg.
An employee was tightening a gas pipe with a wrench when the wrench slipped from his hand. The employee's arm then hit a metal cross-brace, resulting in a lacerated arm.
An employee was walking into the motor control center (MCC) room when his right ring finger was caught in the hinge of a doorway. He sustained an open phalanx fracture, which resulted in a partial amputation above the first knuckle.
An employee was changing the spacing on a telehandler's forks. A fork slipped, and the employee's left index finger was caught between it and the mast. The fingertip was medically amputated at the first knuckle.
An employee was pulling down a broken skid with a forklift. When the employee backed up the forklift to get the forks out of the skid he pulled down, he contacted the forks of another parked forklift, fracturing both of his legs. He was hospitalized.
An employee was carrying cups back to the kitchen when her foot got caught on a cart and she fell face-first. During the fall, a piece of glass from a cup cut the inside of her mouth, severing an artery. She also sustained a laceration on her lower lip. The employee was hospitalized.