Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Penelec, Altoona Water Authority Shop, ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA 16601
on — Fractures , affecting the Leg(s) unspecified.
Final narrative
An employee was on the back of a pickup truck helping to unspool wire from a large wire reel. The employee was exiting the truck, tripped over the elevated lift on the back of the truck and fell. As he was falling he jumped to avoid a partially lowered liftgate. His right foot landed on the asphalt and his left foot landed in a ground cable trench, resulting in multiple fractures to his left leg.
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 221122)
An employee was setting up communication equipment for a meeting. They were walking and tripped over a speaker on the ground. The employee sustained a leg injury.
An employee (a lineman) was working to restore power by installing a hand line when he contacted a high-voltage device (7,200 volts), resulting in electrical burns to his upper body and hands.
A chain sling failed while a utility pole was being removed. A chain link struck an employee who was operating a front-end loader, puncturing the employee's chest.
An employee was working with an underground crew to troubleshoot a BUD failure. The employee was removing a fuse from the fuse holder when the fuse blew on the riser and an arc flash occurred. The employee was hospitalized with burns to his face, nose, lips, and neck.
An employee was connecting two wires when his rubber insulated gloves failed and he suffered an electric shock to his right hand, resulting in an electrical burn.
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.