Contact with hot objects or substances · Thermal burns third degree or higher
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Real Alloy Recycling, LLC, 400 E Lincoln Hwy., CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS 60411
on — Thermal burns third degree or higher, affecting the Lower leg(s).
Final narrative
At 3:17 p.m. on July 17, 2024, an employee was using a shovel to clean molten metal from the surge bowl of an aluminum launder system when the metal splashed onto the employee's lower left leg. The employee suffered third-degree burns.
An employee was marking sows with crayon when they were exposed to fumes from aluminum alloy and/or marking paint. The employee experienced difficulty breathing and was hospitalized.
An employee pulled out a bucket of hot oil from under the fryer. The employee then stood on the table to clean the back wall. He stepped down into the bucket of hot oil, resulting in third-degree burns to his left leg.
An employee was performing maintenance under a kettle. When he removed a tri-clamp on a transfer line, the hot fat and broth material in the kettle poured out onto his arm. The employee was hospitalized with burns.
After completing a run with an oil distributor truck, an employee was working to return (suction) the hot oil to the tank of the truck. When the employee opened one of the valves, hot oil (approximately 385 degrees) sprayed their face, resulting in first-, second-, and third-degree burns.
An employee was filtering a fryer with a fryer filter machine. After going around the corner and then returning to the fryers, the employee stepped into the filter machine. The hot oil burned the employee's right ankle, and the employee was hospitalized.
An employee was using a water hose to clean debris out of the outfeed of a log conditioning vat. Water began entering the vat from the adjoining vat through a void in the separation wall at the infeed of the vats. As the employee was exiting the vat he had been working in using the access opening at the outfeed, hot water exiting the access opening entered the top of his protective hip wader. It pooled at the bottom of the wader and burned his left foot and ankle.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 331314)
On July 29, 2025, an employee working near a metal furnace. Toward the end of his shift, he was charging a furnace and began to experienced heat exhaustion. He had also been in areas of elevated temperatures due to heat sources such as direct sunlight and a combustion engine. The employee was hospitalized with dehydration.
An employee was using a pry bar to remove a piece of aluminum cone from a mold on the cone line. The cone broke loose and the employee's left middle finger was caught between the pry bar and the cone line frame. The employee's fingertip was partially amputated.
An employee was machining a trunnion using a grinding rig when their left hand was caught between the grinding stone and the trunnion, resulting in fractures to the middle, ring, and little fingers, as well as severe damage to the skin and amputations of the middle and ring fingers to the distal knuckle.
On August 7, 2024, a maintenance technician was descending a fixed cage ladder when the ladder broke and they fell approximately 12 feet to the concrete ground. The employee sustained head injuries and fractured ribs.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.