Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Pacific Ethanol, 1300 South Second Street, PEKIN, ILLINOIS 61554
on — Fractures , affecting the Rib(s), oblique area.
Final narrative
On July 22, 2024, an employee was at the belt man lift, showing a trainee an area that needed to be cleaned. The employee was mounting the lift to exit the area when they fell through a hole near the opening and landed partially on the access platform for the lift on the ground floor. The employee sustained a rib fracture.
An employee was putting a tote of fermentation additive on a process sump when a chemical reaction occurred and a cloud of chlorine dioxide came out of the sump. When the employee went to shut off the valve, he inhaled the chlorine dioxide and suffered respiratory damage, requiring overnight hospitalization.
An employee was retrieving a Christmas tree from a shelf using a ladder. He missed a step and fell to the concrete floor. He sustained injury to his head and wrist.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee fell from a step ladder while reaching for a tie-off point. He impacted the ground, and landed on his bolt bag which contained tools. The employee was hospitalized with fractured ribs, and a lacerated spleen and kidney.
An employee slipped while descending in a stairwell, fell, and suffered multiple contusions/bruises to the head, neck, shoulders, knees, and back. She was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 325998)
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.
An employee was removing a hose from a chemical tank after filling the tank with hexamethylenediamine (HMD). He checked the line to ensure that the hose was clear, then disconnected the hose at the connection. Residual chemical sprayed onto his face, causing a second-degree burn. He was hospitalized.
Two employees were moving a railcar (plastic pellet hopper car) using a mobile railcar mover. One employee was the engineer in control of the railcar mover and the injured employee was a switchman. The railcar mover went forward and the hopper railcar struck the injured employee, resulting in a severe crushing injury to the employee's right arm.
An employee was opening a filter housing in the potassium chloride production area and got sprayed with a hot solution of potassium chloride brine. The employee sustained thermal burns to their right hand and legs.
An employee was performing maintenance on a guillotine cutter machine. As the employee was placing a pin in the machine, his left middle fingertip was caught, resulting in a partial amputation to the finger. The machine was not locked out at the time.
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.