Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Blue Origin Texas LLC., 35961 State Highway 54, VAN HORN, TEXAS 79855
on — Amputations, avulsions, enucleations unspecified, affecting the Thumb(s).
Final narrative
An employee was deburring a metal piece using a disc sander when their right thumb contacted the sanding surface, resulting in a partial traumatic metacarpophalangeal amputation.
An employee was working with a crew installing metal plates and a holder on a 26-foot slide gate. As the employee was pulling on the steel gate, which weighed approximately 800 pounds, the gate was pulled beyond the back rollers holding it in position, which caused the gate to pivot and fall onto the employee's foot. The employee sustained fractures on the third, fourth, and fifth metatarsals on their right foot, and an amputation of the right fourth toe.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 336414)
A Space Exploration Technologies Corp. employee was setting up equipment for a welding operation, working from a ladder leaning against a domed vehicle structure. The ladder became unstable at the base, causing the employee to fall about 6 feet and strike their head on the metal leg of a work platform. The employee suffered a concussion and a subdural hematoma and was hospitalized.
An employee was exiting the maintenance building when she tripped and fell on a paved incline walkway. She caught herself with her left hand and was hospitalized with a fractured left wrist that required surgery.
An employee was troubleshooting a dust collector when they sustained partial amputations to three of their right fingertips from the spinning rotor of the motor.
Two employees were removing a clamp from the top of a pipe spool. The pipe fell and then shifted sideways, trapping one employee's thumb. The sleeve around the outside of the insulated pipe caused a crush injury to the thumb, resulting in a partial degloving.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
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 was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.