Exposure to environmental heat outdoor · Heat exhaustion, fatigue
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at United Parcel Service, Inc., 15994 S. Dupont Hwy, HARRINGTON, DELAWARE 19952
on — Heat exhaustion, fatigue, affecting the BODY SYSTEMS .
Final narrative
An employee was delivering packages on a route when he began to lose his voice and experience cramps, resulting in hospitalization due to heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Hospitalized BODY SYSTEMS Heat environmental
More severe injuries at United Parcel Service, Inc.
An employee was making deliveries when he started to feel ill. He returned to the office but started feeling worse. The employee was hospitalized with heat stroke and a kidney injury.
On July 23, 2025, an employee was loading irregular packages into a truck. A pole that was being shipped fell from from an upright position and struck the employee on the head, resulting in a concussion.
On July 22, 2025, at approximately 4:30 a.m. after the previous day's shift, an employee was hospitalized with a kidney injury caused by heat-related illness. The employee had worked several consecutive days delivering packages in high outdoor heat and humidity without cooling gear.
On October 7, 2025, employee was installing mulch with a landscape crew. At around 2:15 PM, the employee took a break and started to feel cramping/pain. The employee was taken to the hospital with rhabdomyolysis due to heat exhaustion.
A temporary employee was on top of a cane wagon, throwing cane down to the ground (i.e., planting). He reached the end of the field row and started to feel ill. He experienced cramping and headaches due to heat exhaustion.
An employee was moving a large package from a slide when her left arm got caught between the slide (tilt tray) and the package. She was hospitalized with a fractured left arm.
An employee was operating a switch truck at a rail yard. He got out of the switch truck to unlock a container that was attached to a unit in front of him. The switch truck rolled and pinned the employee against the container. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis, a ruptured spleen, and a possible spinal cord injury.
An employee was sidestepping along the catwalk of a railcar when he lost his balance and fell approximately 4 feet to the ground. The employee's right hip was fractured.
An employee was working to realign the two top sections of a set of collapsible rollers (trailer-on-flatcar rollers). The rollers suddenly fell into place and pinched her left index fingertip against the lower sections. She suffered a partial amputation to the fingertip.
A flagger was directing traffic flow in a highway work zone. They were standing approximately 1.5 feet behind the shoulder's demarcating line, next to and slightly behind a traffic drum. As they were directing traffic into and out of the driveway of a parking lot, a car attempted to get around a truck and struck the traffic drum, which subsequently struck the employee, who was thrown 15 feet and landed on top of concrete aggregate. The employee suffered pelvic and rib fractures, T10 and L3 vertebra fractures, and internal bleeding.
An employee was troubleshooting a power washer in the field. Because there might have been water in its fuel, he brought it back to the shop and drained about a gallon of fuel from the tank into a plastic container. Some of the fuel spilled onto the floor and ignited. The employee was stomping out the fire when he lost his balance and tripped into a stool, which caused the plastic container to spill more fuel onto the fire. The employee's pants and shirt caught on fire, and he fell, abrading his knee while trying to get through the flames. As well as the knee abrasion, he suffered burns to the left leg and left lower quadrant of the torso. He was hospitalized.
An employee was backing up a tram (towing powered industrial equipment) to connect it to a trash bin. The employee's left forearm/wrist was caught and crushed between the tram and the bin. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee went to lift a carton and tripped on a different carton that was on the floor. She fell on the floor in the backroom and sustained a fractured right hip, and abrasions to her arm and knee. The employee was hospitalized and required surgery.